Sci-Fi & Squeam

9 Nov 2013

Armageddon Expo 2013 Queer Geeks of Oz Panel

Society & Culture

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Saturday October the 19th 2013, 3 pm at Armageddon in the Melbourne Showgrounds….An Australian First !!!

Sci fi and Squeam of Joy 94.9 presents:

QUEER GEEKS OF OZ

The very 1st LGBTIQ panel run by and for Queer Geeks in Australia at a major pop culture convention called Armageddon held in Melbourne October the 19th at 3 pm, 2013 !
As an Aussie 1st Sci-fi and Squeam’s Sonja Hammer -writer, producer and presenter of the only queer geek genre radio show on air in Australia broadcast from the LGBTIQ community radio station Joy 94.9- is bringing the idea of a radio show combined with a LIVE geek panel for all LGBTIQ nerds and geeks in Australia to interact with… and get excited about!
It will be a diverse panel including John Richards , broadcaster , screen writer ( Outland ) and Dr Who enthusiast ( Splendid Chaps ), Lee Galea award winning film maker of Monster Pies (Audience Choice Award for Best Feature ,Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2013 ), Luke Miller is the creator of an Aussie first in video games : ‘My Ex-Boyfriend the Space Tyrant’ the first with a gay theme,he will be returning direct from the U.S. The fourth panellist and Gaymer geek is Dylan Adler who hosts Joy 94.9’s youth flagship show: Generation Next and is a fellow contributor on Sci-fi and Squeam’s gamer segment called DylStick and now host for Queer Young Thing on Channel 31’s Bent TV! Bailey O’Neill a new comer is the host of a Horror film discussion segment on Sci-fi and Squeam called The A to Z of Horror, and is representing the trans geek community, and lastly Sonja Hammer ( The Squeamer ) will be M.C of the panel and queer geek guide.

This is MORE than just a panel of chat about sci-fi, horror, spec fiction , comics and games.. All the things we are crazy about !! …. it is also the FIRST ever organised and arranged ‘Gig’ for LGBTIQ & Friends to come together to meet and share ideas, stories new and old and passions for all things Geek!
The concept is to be able to show to a broad range of Geeks and Nerds the awesomeness of the LGBTIQ Geek Media and Fan community, plus those who identify as Queer Geeks can show how wonderful it is to be OUT and proud to do so/be …. To be able to show to the wider community we have a voice.
To reach out to all Geeks and be counted , and break down all barriers to discrimination. Queer geeks can often experience even greater marginalisation because they ARE geeks.
To form alliances within diverse fan communities on the day and for these allegiances to be built and expanded upon.
And we will also have special messages from LGBTIQ organisations overseas who are showing support for this Australian 1st !
Armageddon is a massive popular culture convention held every year in Oct in Melbourne, but also holds similar cons at other city centres across Australia and NZ . At Armageddon conventions you will find Sci-fi and Pop Culture icons and celebrities , you will find prop artists, Cos-players, Comic creators, discussion panels and fans of all kinds for every kind of genre !

What we talked about on the day:

The Queer Geeks of Oz panel discussed things a bit like a 101 for LGBTIQA Geekdon including:

Why have a panel about Queer geeks to start with ? What is it like to be a queer geek in Australia ?
How different is the geek scene for LGBTIQA here in Oz? The experiences members of the panel have had overseas, Video Games and Gaymers and representation in games, Transphobia in games, Queer influence in genre pop culture TV, Women in video games and representation, Enders Game and Orson Scott Card and his Homophobia -what do Aussie queer geeks think? …and MORE……

Thanks to/ Acknowledgements:

Joy 94.9, Mitch Todd, Nathan Garcia , RM Radcliffe, Mark Ten Buuren, Liam Merrick ( New Game Plus) , Dean Rankine,
Dean Arcuri, Same Same, MCV, Star Observer, LOTL, Matt Conn and GaymerX, Patrick and Jono from GeeksOUT, Marc Huntington and Artboy Gallery, Madman Entertainment Australia, Betty Sujecki, Chloe Stannard, Sammi Marasco, Scarlette Baccini, Lindsay C Walker, Black Tribbles, John Richards, Luke Miller, Bailey O’Neill, Dylan Adler, Lee Galea, Les Link, Anastasia, Sammi Whitehead, Andy Hawken , Gerry Costigan, Dean Beck,Vicki Isitt, Emmet O’Cuana, Brendan Bale, Conrad Brown, Leenie Fabri, Brendan Bale, Briony Kidd, Tim Casey, Jase Gipps and Blondsaurus from Geek Bomb. Scott Liston and Locky and Armageddon Expo, Mark Patton and Sci-fi and Squeam .

IN MEMORY OF : Rob ‘The Bish’ Bishop 1965-2013 R.I.P.