UNSW Queer Collective

Awareness post about what's happening in India

CW: Transphobia

On 25th March, the Lok Sabha passed "Bill 79", an anti trans amendment bill that narrows down the definition of legal recognition for transgender individuals to a small, arbitrary, and unscientific set of sociocultural groups. The bill removes protections and criminalises transitioning for identities now excluded from this poor definition, and opens legal potential for criminalising individuals who assist others in transitioning/receiving gender affirming care. On 30th March, the bill was assented, meaning that bill 79 has officially been signed into an act.

UNSW Q***r Collective represents members of the q***r community from all cultural backgrounds. Seeing such news unravel when the LGBTQIA+ community is backed by q***r and trans Indians throughout history is both devastating and appalling.

India initially allowed people to self-identify, access legal recognition without humiliation rituals and have at least some form of protection. With this new act, trans people are forced to "prove" their identity through a government-controlled medical board- if you aren't approved, you aren't legally recognised. This anti-trans act passing puts millions at severe risk, especially trans men and woman, nb and genderq***r folks. A decade of progress for human rights is being stripped away at this very moment.

If you or anyone you know has been impacted by this news, UNSW offers free confidential mental health support and resources: https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/counselling

You can also access the following resources in addition to that:
Qlife
https://qlife.org.au/

The Gender Centre
https://gendercentre.org.au/services/counselling-mental-health-services

ACON Community care (has LGBTQ+ counselling, Trans peer support, etc)
https://www.acon.org.au/community-care/

💫 Eid Mubarak 💫
Eid Mubarak from your q***r officers everyone!

Thank you to the wonderful dinky for drawing this beautiful artwork! 💖 You can follow them at d1nky.bsky.social 🤩

CLOCK IT!! In-person/online productive session
Hello everyone! Do you have notes, assignments or projects that you have to work on? Do you need some motivation to muster up the courage to work on something, even for just a minute?

It is time for you to clock it and get some stuff done together! This flex week, we will be having both an in person and online session and you can attend whichever one is most accessible to you 📖 🖋️ Whether it is some uni stuff or a passion project or even getting some chores done, you can have company whilst doing so!

Note: 1-3pm is a guideline for when the event would roughly begin or end, you are more than welcome to come in earlier or stay back later. (We also have the Bound screening with Filmsoc afterwards, so in-person is recommended!)

Hope to see you there! 💫

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED- T2 Q***R BALL
Hello everyone! As mentioned in last week's Q***r Co meeting, we are currently looking for people interested in helping us out for term 2 q***r ball. Please DM us if you are interested and would like more details! 🎊

(also please come to our meeting tomorrow 12-1pm at q***r space)

MCSoc x Q***rCo Craft and Minecraft Collab
Hello everyone! If you like minecraft and or crafting you should come to our collab event! Bring your own device to play some minecraft with other players or you can simply come on down to chat, craft and chill!

When: 2-4pm week 3 Friday 6th March
Where: Science and Engineering Building G05

Hope to see you there!

Hello everyone! If you missed out on today's Mardi Pardi or want to be away from the crowd for Mardi Gras, don't fret ‼️ Come to q***r space this Saturday and join our Mardi gras watch party!

You're more than welcome to invite anyone else to come along. There will also be free pizza, snacks and drinks but you are more than welcome to bring some of your own to share! Let either of us know if you have allergies or dietary requirements 🍿

Hello everyone!! There will be a Mardi Pardi at on Wednesday 25th from 5-9pm! There will be amazing performances as well as some drinks you can purchase 🥂 Q***r Co will have our own little stall from 5-7pm where you can get some freebies, resources/information and paint your nails 💅Feel free to come say hi to us!

🧧HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR 🧧
Our new gay mascot wishes you a happy lunar new year!!! 新年快乐！！恭喜发财！

From your 2026 q***r officers, we hope everyone as a year full of prosperity and blessings! 🐎

📨 LOOKING FOR TRANSLATORS 📨
Are you sick of having translated information not made by humans?
Are you by any chance looking for translation work?
Are you a q***r co member who is proficient in another language?
Are you also building up your 📰 resume 📰 for a J*B?!?!?! 😱

Well say no more as your q***r officers are looking for those keen on doing some translation work! (yeah we don't know that many languages...) As a part of this year's initiative, we would like to bridge cultural gaps within the UNSW q***r community by providing resources and information in multiple languages! However, we cannot do this without 🫵 YOU 🫵 ‼️

If you or someone you know are interested and would love to help out, feel free to DM us! Just let us know the following information:
- Language proficiency
- Previous translated works (if applicable)
- Why you are interested

Applications will be open indefinitely and you can contribute to whatever kind of work you would like!

QC X QSIS X SAPPHOSOC X BAGLMSOC O-WEEK BBQ
Come join us at o week to get some delicious pancakes and peach tea!

Where: Library Lawn (near upper campus library)
Date: Wed 11th Feb
Time: 2-3pm

Hope to see everyone there!

O-WEEK Q***R STAMP RALLY

Q***r Co alongside Filmsoc, BAGLMsoc, MCsoc, Ninsoc, SEGAsoc, AFS, Fursoc, QSIS and Sapphosoc will be hosting a stamp rally from 9th Monday to 10th Tuesday Feb! Collect all the stamps, receive some awesome freebies and come back to Q***r Co's stall for a chance to win a blahaj! 🤩💖

if you’d like to help new students feel welcomed and build a larger community this is a wonderful opportunity to help! this is also a great way to meet fellow g**s!

if you want to volunteer, please dm us what times you will be available during 9am-4pm in those dates, and we will try get a schedule together thanks!!