A number of gay bars in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra; and gay community newspapers The Sydney Star Observer, Melbourne's Southern Star Observer and Queensland's QNews have announced plans to raise and/or donate funds to the victims of the Queensland floods.
According to the Sydney Star Observer, Melbourne's Xchange Hotel will hold a special fundraiser night on Sunday, January 23, where funds will go directly to the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief Fund. So will Sydney's Slide Bar on Oxford Street, according to gay website Samesame.com.au. It also reported that Brisbane's Fluffy nightclub, which was unaffected by the water damage, will be donating all door profits to the Queensland Flood Appeal and cash will also collected by bucket-shakers at the club through the weekend. Canberra's Connections club has promised to match the dollar amount donated by customers this weekend. Several others including Melbourne's Disgraceland/JettBlack; Sydney's Saturday Fucking Night/Nevermind, The Stonewall Hotel and Midnight Shift have also announced plans to raise funds this weekend.
SSO Media, publishers of the Southern Star Observer and the Sydney Star Observer, has pledged 10 percent of all advertising sales from issue 1056 of the Sydney Star Observer and 118 of Southern Star Observer, including sales that have already been made, to the Queensland Premier's Flood Relief Appeal. Brisbane-based QNews will donate 10 percent of new bookings and upgrades across issues 264 and 265.
As of Friday, Jan 14, QNews reported on its website that its phone lines have been restored after power was shut off around 1.30pm on Wednesday. Its Paddington office, which has not been damaged by the floodwaters, is located just 250 metres from one of the worst hit areas in Milton.
[Update on Jan 17: Ray Mackereth, publisher and managing director of QNews, told Fridae in an email on Monday that his office was temporarily relocated to St Pauls Tavern (who had offered their conference facilities) after the power cut so that they could complete and digitally send the magazine to the printers. The fortnightly magazine was distributed over the weekend and staff will continue to do so early this week wherever possible.]
QNews is also running a billeting program for those who are affected by the flood as "emergency shelters are not always welcoming to trans, gay and lesbians especially couples" and for pets, according to an update on its website. It says the paper has received 100s more offers of accommodation than are needed thanks to the overwhelming generosity of their readers.
It also reported that the ALSO Foundation is holding a fundraiser at their Midsumma Carnival Fair Day in Melbourne on Friday, Jan 14. Funds raised will benefit the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities (QAHC) relief fund.
Brisbane and other parts of Queensland now face a massive task of cleaning up and rebuilding as floodwaters recede after leaving some 26,000 properties – with 11,900 homes completely under water and another 14,700 are partially flooded – in the Brisbane area after the water level peaked early Thursday morning. Fifteen people are confirmed dead, while 55 are reportedly missing. Media reports say the flooding which began in late November in northern Queensland has affected an area roughly the size of Germany and France combined. Some 65,000 homes and businesses in the south-east part of the state are still without electricity – most of those are in the Brisbane area. Meanwhile above-average cyclone activity is expected through to end-March.
The Alliance is a coalition of organisations from across Australia that provide health-related programs, services and research targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and other sexuality, sex and gender diverse people (LGBTI).Australia's National LGBTI Health Alliance and other organisations and businesses have also set up a range of support services for people affected by the floods in Queensland. Support services include LGBTI-friendly accomodation, clean-up, counselling and financial assistance. They are also calling for donations to a special fund to assist LGBTI people who are not able to ask mainstream providers for support on sensitive issues and to assist LGBTI community organisations who have experienced loses. Find out more at www.qahc.org.au/floods or by calling 1800 177 434 or (07) 3017 1777.