Tiffany Jones: Speaking of doing Queer differently, your article ‘Lipstick Clapsticks: A yarn and a Kiki with an Aboriginal drag queen’ (Farrell, 2016) provides a very personalised introduction of Indigenous themes in Queer writing. Tell us about the importance of yarns and kikis?
Andrew Farrell: These are both cultural and colloquial terms used across Indigenous and LGBTIQ+ communities. We, Aboriginal peoples, use the word ‘yarn’ to describe how we relate to each-other on an interpersonal level within Aboriginal communities. Coming from the Queer community—particularly the Black and Latin Queer communities in the US—the term ‘kiki’ refers to interpersonal queer relationships. I use those terms to basically say ‘I trust and acknowledge you as my kin: you are my friend, sister or brother’.
Interestingly, these terms are not necessarily gendered. Yarning does not imply or describe particular gendered interaction. Having a kiki also brings additional meaning to the already de-gendered interpersonal connection. I wanted to bring these ideas together to reflect my involvement in multiple cultural, social, and political arenas to signal my identity across both. I also used both terms to invite people from Queer and Indigenous communities to feel they could lean in and observe a snapshot of my life as both Queer and Indigenous.
My PhD thesis is looking at LGBTIQ Indigenous people on social media. As an Indigenous researcher, I have a responsibility to identify my position within these communities first in order to then undertake further research. As an Aboriginal person it is always necessary to start with identifying who you are, what community and culture you belong to. As I contribute to the LGBTIQ Indigenous space I want to reassure mob that it is a Queer identified Aboriginal person doing the research rather than an outsider looking in.
Tiffany Jones: Would you like to tell our readers a little bit more about how you identify?
Andrew Farrell: Sure. I come from the Jerrinja Aboriginal community on the South Coast of NSW. I identify as Queer as I like the potential and ambiguity in that word. Growing up I have identified as gay, gender-fluid, non-binary … and just kind of ended up at the term Queer. Where I am from I didn’t always have the language to articulate that, so it has taken me some time to finally say that I am Queer.
I knew that I was different as a child but it wasn’t until my university years that I began to seek out and identify as gender and sexually diverse. To give some context, this happened through undergraduate years in visual arts doing sculpture, drawing, a tiny bit of painting. My artistic practices moved with me into drag, in which I became involved with my local LGBTIQ+ scene. Being involved with the Queer student community, I was able to finally discuss what being ‘gay’ meant and what further possibilities I could explore in terms of gender. I think all of that has been important in determining my path, both positive and negative. As I came to terms with my gender and sexuality I also felt further isolation from my Aboriginal community because these ideas, these ways of identifying, are not understood and thereby not fully accepted.
I still have a lot of wonderful relationships with my community. They have not let go of me, and I have not let go of them. Our cultural ties are strong enough to withstand these kinds of differences for the most part. I am not discouraged by these challenges but I want to navigate them as safely as possible. It is hard work and it has taken a lot out of me. I have only reached my 30s but I am the first born in my mother’s side of my family, so I have never known a time where I did not have many responsibilities to my family.
These challenges have informed my priorities for where I want to go in my career, starting with my family. For Aboriginal academics, our priorities often start with maintaining our families and communities. As a Queer person that must also account for the specific challenges and experiences of this intersecting and complex social and cultural space.
Tiffany Jones: Yes, for queer academics our work can be very emotionally entwined with our experiences and our drive to reflect or impact them. Is there some area where you especially feel a drive to make an impact in particular?
Andrew Farrell: I personally would like to see improvements in the self-worth and value of Queer Indigenous people. I want them to be valued, loved, supported, and given opportunities to participate and have their say. I definitely have issues with my self-worth and value based on the trauma that I have experienced in relation to my identity. I want people to be able to feel it is okay to be both Indigenous and Queer. I don’t aim to be a role model and am not confident enough to say ‘I stand for particular values’ or to have people comparing themselves to me, but to know there are many parts of myself that may have relevance and value to others identifying in a similar way or ways. I don’t like to set limits on myself; I think that is the main thing. If I stand to represent anything I want it to reflect that diversity is possible.
Tiffany Jones: This position of a non-position or anti-answer, where it is not so much about presenting a specific example but not putting limits on identities that are possible, is in some ways the very best of Queer’s offerings! A frustrating thing is when Queer is accidentally authoritarian.
Andrew Farrell: Yes! It is my responsibility as an Aboriginal Queer person in academia to be cautious and promote diversity for all of its offerings and understand its pitfalls. One of my biggest worries is the issue of gatekeeping around identity as it exists across and between multiple communities. Drawing from Indigenous LGBTIQ+ standpoints we can begin to discuss these issues. What it means to be Queer and Aboriginal in a settler-colonial state is deeply political and pushes multiple boundaries, norms, and so on. We need to challenge and unpack these topics and reassert existing ways of thinking to push the boundaries on issues such as racism, queerphobia, heteronormativity, and various prevalent social issues. Queer Indigenous perspectives may seem new to a lot of people but our existence is entrenched in ancient and living cultures. In our classes we will discuss the rise of marginalised peoples, face issues such as acceptance, and examine how both the Indigenous and LGBTIQ community is implicated.
Tiffany Jones: Are there other cultural terms or ideas you draw on?
Andrew Farrell: As far as incorporating cultural ideas, we will do that throughout our course content. We are currently building the thematic flow for our units. All of them rest in similar politics of wanting to revive Indigenous ways of knowing, not to say these are dead or dormant, but to demonstrate that they are valued, viable, and critical contributions to knowledge about gender and sexual diversity.
In the Australian context, it is important to include, for example, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander transgender communities’ use of terms like ‘Sistergirl’ and ‘Brotherboy’ which uniquely identifies being both transgender and Indigenous. These terms have utility across this vastly diverse continent which is home to over 250 distinct Indigenous language (and cultural) groups in Australia. In that regard I aim to respect the unique, distinct, and varied genders and sexualities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait cultures in the exact same way I would aim to value and respect the diversity of international Indigenous cultures, and bring to light conversations that tie these margins together.
Many Indigenous cultures around the globe are reasserting the importance of culturally informed and self-determined gender and sexual diversities. Whether these voices are from here in Australia, Two-Spirit peoples in Turtle Island (US & Canada), and Takatāpui in Aotearoa (New Zealand), LGBTIQ+ Indigenous cultural resurgence is gaining visibility and traction across the globe. My role, and the work of Queer Indigenous Studies, is to recognise this heterogeneity and mobilise it against oppressive forces, beginning in the classroom.
Tiffany Jones: Is there an aspect of decolonising work in Australian Queer context that engages with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander diversity, in breaking away from British punitive approaches to homosexuality for example, in the way that this frame seems to be called upon in South African or other colonised nations?
Andrew