Miranda Hill’s Homophonic! RESPECT project is so much more than a just a Great Idea and Vital taking point. It deserves your attention.
The stories of elders in the LGBTIQ+ community form the bedrock of the social norms we now enjoy. The traumatic acts of discrimination that people routinely faced cost countless, precious lives and distorted the projected futures of those that survived.
Yvonne Sillett faced life altering discrimination from the military; a job she loved and was good at, but she stood for herself against the hypocritical injustice with strength and pride. Yvonne made the decision not to remain in a space where she was targeted and devalued, even though that space was what she had wanted more than anything else for her whole life up to that point. It cost her greatly to give up her career in the military. It hurt her deeply for many years.
When Yvonne was forced to make the heartbreaking decision to self protect and remove herself from a discriminatory environment, to leave what she loved and wanted most of all, she put herself first. Without knowing it at the time, Yvonne’s decision demonstrated to herself and others that she honoured and loved her Self more than she loved serving her country and she found that She was more worthy of her love and devotion than anything or anyone else. And she was absolutely right!
We are conditioned to love, admire, want, desire things outside of ourselves even when they are restrictive and harmful and we are taught to value these things above ourselves. Rejecting harmful workplaces, relationships and social environs is a powerful reclaim of ourselves, who we are, our value, and our importance in society and life.
Yvonne’s reclamation and powerful demonstration of Self love inspired and gave strength to others who also experienced the devaluation of social structures, systems and constructs.
I honestly love Yvonne for this. I am deeply inspired and strengthened by her chosen life path and the Respect she brings to herself and those around her. I am deeply honoured to have written the Homophonic! RESPECT commission work for Yvonne and Miranda. It is my way of saying thank you for the strength and support that both these women have given me
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Pictured Miranda Hill and Caerwen Martin, at the Fitzroy Town Hall Reading Room Homophonic! Leaps and Bounds Music Festival with The Consort of Melbourne
Photos Darren Gill OSKA studios.
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