Latest / She Said It Out Loud with Emma Young / Broome Pride Inc Founder and All time legend Lucy Porta Loo!

Transcript

Broome Pride Inc Founder and All time legend Lucy Porta Loo! · She Said It Out Loud with Emma Young

0:00
SPEAKER_01: You're listening to She Said It Out Loud, where real women share real stories without sugarcoating a thing.
0:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Emma Young, and I'll bring you on filtered conversations with ambitious women who faced challenges, made bold moves, and learned a lot along the way.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: You'll get real takeaways, honest lessons, and stories that you're gonna relate to.
0:21
SPEAKER_01: Righto, let's get started.
0:24
SPEAKER_01: Hey there and welcome to the podcast.
0:26
SPEAKER_01: This is She Said It Out Loud, and I'm your host, Emmy Young.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is kindly sponsored by Matsos Brewery here in Broome.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: It should be a must on your visit if you do come up to Broome, especially now during the dry season.
0:38
SPEAKER_01: They have many varieties of beer, my personal favourite being the low sugar ginger beer.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Not only that, they have Sunday sessions, which are an absolute must if you like to get out there and have a bit of a party, or there are jam nights on a Tuesday.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: Do yourself a favor, book a table next time you're in Broom, or if you're a local, be sure to check out upcoming events and their specials on the socials page.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: Today's guest is Lucy, Lucy Porteleau or Lucy Falcocchio.
1:04
SPEAKER_01: She has many names, but she is mostly known here in Broome as the founder of Broom Pride Inc.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: It is Australia's most remote Mighty Gras event that they hold every year in late February, early March.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: And today it has raised over$180,000 for local community organizations.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: To say that Lucy is one ambitious woman, I knew that I had to get her on the podcast, have a bit of a chat, and look, we did get into some emotional topics, but that's okay because Lucy is one incredible woman.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: Alrighty, here's our conversation.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: Hello, Lucy, and welcome to the podcast.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: I'm would have banged on about how good you are in the intro because that's what I do and that's what I'm known for.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: Before we even get started, you have many names.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: You've got Lucy, Lucy Portaloo, Lucy Falcochio.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: Got that right?
1:52
SPEAKER_01: You've done that really well.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: Yay! I'm gonna call you Lucy throughout this.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: I have mentioned also in the intro that you are a huge broom personality.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: Anyone that's lived in Broom, even if they've come here for five minutes, they know who you are.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: And that's a credit to your name because you are a legend.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Let's just get straight into this.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: I know that you came to Broom in 2009, all the way from Newcastle and New South Wales, but can you tell my listeners out there a little bit about yourself and how it shaped you to be the legend that you are today?
2:18
SPEAKER_01: Gee, where do you start?
2:20
SPEAKER_00: Well, I was working in Sydney at the time, but from Newcastle.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: I decided to uh apply for a job in senior management because back in the day uh girls like myself kind of didn't get senior management and you know pretty much a male-dominated world.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: Or I had the opportunity to come here and take on a role in senior management.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Bit of a long story there, but they didn't mind my tattoos, they didn't mind the head.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: And I came here, it was okay, you know.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: A quote from Went Then was, Oh, well, we're gonna send you, they may be an asset.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, Okay, then where are you sending me?
2:51
SPEAKER_00: And boom, it was Broom.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: Didn't even know what broom was.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh, never been to WA, and he ended up here and um started off doing employment services.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: So I tech employment.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: They had just won all the contracts, so came here as a state manager.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Did that for about two years, screw a social conscience because for me it wasn't about coming in and uh ticking boxes and make a making a board of directors rich.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: It was about, you know, putting your soul into something that actually contributed to some positive change.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: So after two years, I walked with my feet and I decided to take a few months off work, and I saw this job and it was advertised and they wanted a health promotions officer, and I thought, oh great, and that was with CAMS, Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: So I applied for this job back in the day.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: I worked for Department of Corrections.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, that would have been a tough gig.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: I did nearly 12 years there, started as a prison officer, did the last six and a half years um as the HIV Health Promotions Officer for the Northern Region with them.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: So that was back in the day when uh HIV AIDS first hit Australia, hit the prison system.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh crap.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: Proud to have worked in a team that got condoms in a New South Wales jails.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: But geez, that's no joke.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's another conversation.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, yeah.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: But um, yeah, so I thought, oh well, I've got the skills to do that, applied for a job, went for the job at CAMS, went there and um got a few more skills than that.
4:07
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, because I want to go back to a time in which I, you know, really enjoyed what I did.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: So anyway, I didn't get the job, but they said, but we went off.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: I know.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, can you imagine?
4:17
SPEAKER_00: I know I didn't get the job.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: But they said, no, we want to offer you another job, though.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, well, what's this job?
4:23
SPEAKER_00: And they were developing uh the new shared electronic health record.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: There's so much that comes out of CAMS that is shaped Australia and healthcare.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Way ahead of its time, and uh development of a shared electronic health record, and they needed a project manager for it.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, okay, um I feel like that's a big undertaking.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's massive, it's massive.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: You look at things today, like the My Health Record.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: The Kimberley has really put healthcare on the map.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: We really need a lot of things here.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I started off with CAMs doing that, all the data that comes in, you kind of look at algorithms that work out, for instance, um, you know, where have we got the the highest incidence of let's say heart disease, and you go, oh, that might be out at this community.
5:01
SPEAKER_00: So that's where you would look at projecting your healthcare funds out there to attack that.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
5:05
SPEAKER_00: Say it's diabetes, oh it's COVID.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, gosh.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, to have worked on something uh where CAMS and Balgo in particular were the first in the whole of Australia to have developed a system where we rolled out remote testing and it automatically.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we did that in conjunction with one of the universities over East.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: And we had the first remote uh testing for COVID.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that was done here in the Kimberley.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: So I did that for about 11 and a half years and probably the last three and a half because I've just done 15 years with right now, and I'm still smiling.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a big shout out.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: Now I work uh for an arm of camps which is Kimberley Renal, so I do their project management.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: Geez, you're a busy lady.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh look, I don't know that it's busy because there's not too many people that get to wake up in the morning and go, yay, I get to go to work today.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
5:51
SPEAKER_01: I can sit, I mean, I can see it on your face, and I think people can hear it in your voice that you love your job, and that I feel like that's getting more rare, especially with the pressures of life, to be able to wake up and say that you love that and you can see that you're passionate about it.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: Good on you.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: It helps the work for a good organisation.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: I always say, you know, if you're doing something that you don't feel motivated to get out of bed for, it's a a grind to do it.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: Go and do something else.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: Time to make a change.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: I haven't made a change in 15 years.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: I think they're bloody stuck with me.
6:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh, I know.
6:20
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, thanks for sharing that.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: But you are also very well known for being the founder, the creator, the ultimate legend that is of Broom Pride.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: If I ever want an ego stroke, I'll be able to do it.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: Do they so knocking on your door?
6:32
SPEAKER_00: Do it, do it.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm all for supporting women.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: And look, I know that Broom Pride is an inclusive organization, okay?
6:40
SPEAKER_01: They do have a vision of one community.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:42
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, as far as I've gone into my little research den because I like to become prepared, it was originally created to encourage and produce community events to promote social inclusion for all LGBTQ people as well as their family and friends, which I think that needs to be a focus as well.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: Let's chat more about how broompride actually came to be.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: I remember getting a phone call.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: This is the funny bit, right?
7:04
SPEAKER_00: I get a phone call and there were a group of um gay guys sitting at the Conti back in the day, and they're like, Luce, what are you doing?
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm sitting at home at the moment.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Can you come down here for a meeting?
7:13
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, well, why?
7:15
SPEAKER_00: And they go, Well, we want to start something, but we need a lesbian to do it.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh god.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Did they really say that?
7:20
SPEAKER_01: Pretty much so, yeah.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
7:23
SPEAKER_00: It was hilarious.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: But uh, yeah, so I went down there.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: They wanted to do was literally start an organisation.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so we did that, and then my flatmate at the time worked for the KLC, so we need a lawyer to draw up the um constitution and do everything.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: So we got everything going, and then it was this oh, we became inaugurated in uh September 2014, and then came the grump work.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Well, we'd really like to, you know, be able to watch the Mardi Gras or something for 2015.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: What can we do?
7:47
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, do so uh ended up approaching uh back then it was the bungalow, the good old bunghole.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: No, was that was that the backpackers?
7:56
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, it's um Skylar now.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: So I approached the uh manager and said, Hey, what's the chance of you know putting a big screen on?
8:03
SPEAKER_00: And we probably got about 300 people there.
8:05
SPEAKER_01: Well, for the first one.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: Jeez, that's a huge turn in.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: I know.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: I thought you were gonna say like three people rocked up and there was crickets and tumbleweeds.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: There's what 300 people there.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: So then the next year we're like, hey, can we do it again?
8:16
SPEAKER_00: But we want to, you know, have a little bit of a drag show.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, sure.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: And that was the first year in which we sold tickets and we said, you can keep the ticket money, we just need to pay this, this, and that, see how it goes.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: And it sold out, started lining up down the street, and we're like, whoa, we're on to something here.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: By 2017, we had totally outgrown the monghong because it only had a capacity of 500 people.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: So then we ended up going to the mangrove 2018.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Went to the mangrove because somehow what had happened was SBS got hold of it.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: It went on the SBS News, and all of a sudden, boom, we were here.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: Because I remember, was it 2020 when it was like we weren't sure whether it was going to go ahead?
8:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: And with COVID.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: Don't say the C word.
8:54
SPEAKER_00: I know.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that C word.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that that's the one.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, that would have been 2020.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: So we were the last event to happen.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: Yes, because I remember going to that one and I was like, dear God, this is insane.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: And it's probably because I don't really stay up past 8:30.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, no, nor do I then.
9:10
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, this is insane.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: I like the fact that everybody just seemed to welcome everybody.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: That's and then I do, you know, I've gone to a couple of the cabaret nights at the Civic Center, which are just next level.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: So much talent in this town, and then you bring in the additional talent, and it's just people rave about it.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: And then something wrong, you know, the fact that Dimas lives in town, and then you've got this like person that's just there.
9:32
SPEAKER_01: He's he's great.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: Correct me if I'm wrong with Broom Pride, you've just celebrated your 12th year.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: That's a massive achievement.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: You've raised in that time that Broom Pride has been around, you've raised over$180,000 for local community groups.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm curious to know how do you work out what organisations get this money?
9:49
SPEAKER_01: Now, this might be me being a sticky beast.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: No, no, you go for it, I've been telling you that.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, there's a few ways in which we do.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Early on in the piece, we used to sit there as a committee and we'd just have a committee shit fight, and I thought we'd sit there and you'd look around at the community.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: I remember the first year we gave$17,500 to um Sirens of Silence, and they were for um supporting the families of first responders.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: It's a good cause.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: It is a very good cause, that one.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: And that was Lynn Sinclair that founded that.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: Her and Hubby, and you just thought, yeah, that's that looks like a good one.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh and then we started working with community, so we looked at things like Bring Me to the Families Hub when they were doing a bit of work over at new flooring and that.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: We've done a lot there.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: Safe.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: How do we think of that?
10:32
SPEAKER_00: We looked at our groups, then we started our website and also on our socials.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: Hey, do you want to apply for a grant?
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Up to$10,000.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh we were doing that.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: It's only those that want to write a grant, and not everyone can write a grant.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Um so then we got last year, I got a phone call from the local vets, and there was an animal that came in from community, and its backlist was so busted up, and it was on the euthanasia list for the next morning unless it's got an amputation.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: They're like, Can you guys help?
10:58
SPEAKER_00: And we're like, we can do that.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: We had another young kid from up the peninsula who's been with cancer and he's been isolated down in Perth, like you're doing now, a bit of podcasting, and also so that he could keep in contact.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: They're wanting to raise some money to get him equipment so that he could still, so we're just like, don't worry about raising the money, we'll just went to Harvey Norman and bought it all up, sat it down with his family.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: BPAC, Brewing Performing Arts Co-op when they're moving into their premises.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: We sit and we go, what around town needs happening, or if someone comes to us and we think that's okay.
11:30
SPEAKER_01: I love how you're flexible though.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: Like I feel like sometimes in committee groups, you've you're always gonna have that, and I don't know if this is the case, but you're always gonna have that one person that sits at the back of the room that's just negative Nelly, that only wants it to go to certain things, and that it could cause a shit fight.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: We're really lucky.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: Do you know how how you know how huge our committee is?
11:47
SPEAKER_00: No, I don't know.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: There's three of us.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: See, everyone thinks there's this massive army, right?
11:53
SPEAKER_00: No.
11:54
SPEAKER_01: I p I'm picturing like 25 people sitting there and everyone's starting to yell and scream over the top of each other.
11:59
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that makes it fantastic.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Oh, hell yeah.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Three people.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:03
SPEAKER_01: Including yourself.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: Oh, cool.
12:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, that sounds like my type of committee.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: There's absolutely.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: So it makes it easier.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: Look, we have had up to five or six.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: I think we're all like-minded people and we come from the old school.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: I'm a fan of old school.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: We're forever banging on hate.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: We don't want our segregation, so that's why we believe support the community that supports you.
12:29
SPEAKER_00: Townies, they were a few years ago now, they were looking at closing their doors, and they approached and said, Would you sponsor the townies?
12:36
SPEAKER_00: So over a few years there, we did some big sponsorship there, and now look at them.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: I know.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: We can step back now because they're they're good, they're on their feet, and so that's kind of how we do it.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: Listen, you should be really proud of yourself.
12:46
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you're probably told that a lot.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: The fact that Brewing Pride has grown and every year it just seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: It feels like it's a week, at least.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: It's proper two weeks, isn't it?
12:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, because we do the first week, is where we do all the kids' events.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: So we do, you know.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: I know there's makeup.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, makeup workshop.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: We've even been able to, not this year, last year we went out to Bidgetango.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: We did hip hop workshops.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: Kids out there.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: We assisted with CAMs and went to Derby and did kids under 18's disco and then over 18's disco.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: So we kind of like to support in those areas.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: Uh so there's so much other stuff that we do.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: That's really cool.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: We're just not smashing the old triangle, they're going, hello, look at me, look, let's just get out and do it.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: Last year, there's one thing that I do want to touch on.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: You and I were both on the same local legends panel at the Bruin Chambers Women's Leadership Forum, which I'm a fan of.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: I've attended the last couple of years.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: But last year, one of the questions that Kitty asked you was, What's the significant moment that's defined who you are or changed who you are?
13:43
SPEAKER_01: And you mentioned that, you know, before same-sex marriage was legalized, you were in a relationship where your partner was involved in an accident and they passed away.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: And you'd been together for many years, but you weren't recognised at all as her spouse for obvious reasons.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: The way that you told your answer, it just really stuck with me because I thought, God, that's not something that I would have even considered or thought about.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: Can we talk a little bit more about this?
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Have you noticed any changes in, you know, since same-sex marriage has become legalised in Australia?
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, I remember.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, how can you forget, hey?
14:16
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, look, I for those that are listening to this, like to put a bit of perspective on it.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: When that happened and I got the call to come home home and it was to identify a body that I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would have to come home and do that.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: I was expecting mum because she wasn't well, she had dementia and whatnot.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: But it's funny that you can be the next of kin.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: And this is why I advocated, because it was about seven or eight months before the marriage equality vote happened.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: So this was in June 2016.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: So I remember coming home, next of kin, being contacted, then having like you will have to go and identify the the body, but then the next morning going to the police station to pick up some belongings and change of shift.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: And the first question was, Oh, what is the status of your relationship?
15:04
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you after what you've just been through, you're like, Do you try and well that's my partner?
15:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh no, but are you like a blood relative?
15:13
SPEAKER_00: Uh no, that's my partner.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: And then sorry, we can't give you those things.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna need a relative to So then they had to contact her parents who were on the East Coast and she'd not had much to do with them for many years.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: But the long and the short of it then comes the the part of doesn't matter what you think you've done right, like we had nominated each other as beneficiaries of superannuation, insurance policies and whatnot, but because I've learnt a lot since then, you know, you don't tick that little binding box, it doesn't matter, and it back then it could still be contested.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, you go to affect a will, you're told by the lawyers, no, no, no, we can represent you, and you at that stage you're in that much criff, you're like, nah, so the last thing you want to do is take, you know, everyone's grieving.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: It's like money's money, you walk away from that.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: Then it comes time that you can't even go and visit them anymore because you're not a serious?
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I had to wait six days, travel to Brisbane to say final goodbyes, and then to be able to bring her ashes back, which I got to do.
16:11
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's good.
16:12
SPEAKER_00: And we got to put her out on the first reef, because this was home for her.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the one thing that I swore through all of that is I never want anyone to go through that.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: It's hideous.
16:22
SPEAKER_00: And I know I get a bit like still now, but I'm okay.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's just part of you know, you'd be a monster if you didn't bloody, you know, feel still, you know.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: But I still remember, and this emotion comes from I still remember the morning that the the marriage equality vote came back as Australia said yes.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: I still remember the emotion, but I got a phone call from ABC.
16:43
SPEAKER_00: I remember when the vote came through, yes, and I just burst into tears.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: I still today, because it is just the best it's a privilege to know that it's a lot easier for people today.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: So that was a really important day for everyone.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: I think that people for being there and and recognizing, because it wasn't about, oh, I want to get married.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: Well, trust me, I don't want to get married.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: It's about equality.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: All I want is the same rights as you've got.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: And that's what that was about.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: There are so many other people with other woeful stories, but at least now we take that pain away.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: And I think there's a lot more understanding.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you can't educate ignorance, and thank God ignorance isn't in this country is that much.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: Most people are pretty open-minded.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: I think that that was a massive turning point for Australia.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: I think uh if you look today at what's happening around the world, the very loud voices of ignorance are always gonna be loud.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: But the beauty is when it comes to the crunch, humanity and the majority of mankind still have a heart to know what is right, what is wrong.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: Like with Broom Pride, that was the one thing that where I keep saying one community.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Um and I want to drum that home because it's not about L G B T Q I A.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it is, but see, I'm a firm believer, in order to have true equality, we just need one community.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: So it's about all of us coming together, whether you're L G B T Q IA, whether you're, you know, whatever cultural background you're from, cut us all and we bleed red.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: Do you have other friends that believe in that as well?
18:14
SPEAKER_01: Or is that kind of like a controversial view?
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, look, I think you get ignorance on all people's learned experiences, you know.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: Some people feel as though they've not been treated fairly because of their experience in life and whatnot.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: You know, I get it from my community, and I'm sure that I get it from the greater community who are like, oh my god, we don't want they think of LGBTQ, oh the drag queens, the this, the that.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: You know, you get it both sides.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Some of the comments I've had from my own community is like, oh, there's too many straits, there's too many this, there's too many that.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: But it's just a loud minority.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: And as I say to them, that's good.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: Go sat your own organization because we are about true inclusivity.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: One community.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: We're not about and and we get it also within our own community, you know.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: It's like we're all just people.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: I think, I don't know, there's so many labels these days.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: Had it said to me, Oh, but you're a lesbian, boy, don't give me a label.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: Well, yes, I may be a lesbian as you wish to call it, but you know, I I may not have and I don't care, I'll say, you know, I may not have uh had sex with men in my life, or nearly 60 bloody years of them.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean I don't love men.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love that.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: Why?
19:18
SPEAKER_00: I mean that's you being straight up honest.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Straight up honest, and I never ever discard that yeah, I just don't look at a guy and go, oh, I'd like to jump your bones.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't have that in me.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: But I never, you know, discard that maybe one day I might fall in love with a man.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: Don't think it's gonna happen now, but I certainly have men in my life that I love.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: And that's special for you to say that.
19:36
SPEAKER_01: Because I think there's probably I don't know, I'm just assuming there could even be lesbians out there that think that that exact same thing, but are probably too scared to even admit that.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: Because people go, hang on a minute, I thought you said you're a lesbian.
19:46
SPEAKER_01: You can't possibly love a man.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Well, you I have, and of course I can.
19:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: I'm lucky.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: The men that surround me in my life are just bloody amazing.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you, they're not all gay men.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: I I just surround myself with amazing people.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: Because I I just believe that you never know who you're gonna fall in love with.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: I think that's important for people that are listening to this as well.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: I'm not for labels.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't.
20:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I've talked it plenty of times.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: I haven't gone into detail on these podcasts, but I've made plenty of comments for people that know me.
20:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, in the very first episode, I talked about my very first kiss with a woman and I described it like melted butter.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: To this day, it's still stuck in my mind.
20:19
SPEAKER_01: I loved every minute of it.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: And so, but I don't go around going introducing myself as hi, I'm Emma, I think I'm buyer.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Actually, I know I'm buyer, but actually I know I'm definitely not a lesbian.
20:27
SPEAKER_01: Like I don't need to go into that.
20:29
SPEAKER_01: I get the same oh, but you're a lesbian.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: Nah, it's a label you want to give me, not one that I'm wearing.
20:33
SPEAKER_01: My name's Lucy.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: That's my label.
20:35
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for sharing that part of your story that's, you know, that's like an emotional topic, but it's really important that you've come out and actually said it out loud.
20:42
SPEAKER_01: So I appreciate that.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: It's not often that we get to sit and reflect on what we've done.
20:46
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I do, I've stroked your ego and I've pumped you up a fair bit, but that's within good reason.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: You've achieved a lot, but it's not often that we actually take the time to say what we've achieved and what we've accomplished.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: Is there something that you can think of that you are just incredibly proud of and that you just want to say it, yep, I've done this, I'm a proud of it.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, look, it's even before Brune days, and I alluded to it earlier, but so proud of back in the early 90s when I worked with Corrective Services in New South Wales.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: I worked for back then Prison AIDS Project or the uh HIV Health Promotions Unit, but so proud to have worked in a unit that advocated so hard back in the days when HIV AIDS first hit Australia, and we got condoms in the New South Wales institutions, and I believe that saved a lot of lives.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: So that was probably one of the things that I was proud to be part of.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: I think another massive proud moment, but I'm proud every day, and I I know I bang on about it.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: But working with CAMS, working on first shared electronic health record, massive for people up here in the Kimberley.
21:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, when go into any of the main hospitals here now, and they'll just say, Oh yeah, what medication are you on?
21:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, just gonna have a look at my record and they can bring it up, automatically sends a notification to their remote clinic to say, Hey, so and so's presented this ED for this.
21:56
SPEAKER_00: It's all point in time stuff, so for me, but I'm proud of The community of Broom and the Kimberly for walking beside me in regards to Broom Pride, creating the social change that was necessary.
22:08
SPEAKER_00: Never in my life, when I first came to Broom, did I ever think that I would walk into the Robuk Bay Hotel on a Wednesday night and see drag bingo?
22:15
SPEAKER_01: Okay, rapid fire questions.
22:17
SPEAKER_01: Oh God, I can think.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh God, I know.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: If I got a bunch of your mates and I say, right, give me three words that describes Lucy.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: What three words do you think they're going to use to describe you?
22:27
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: They'd probably end it with the four-letter C word that I'm not allowed to say.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: So there would be a funny see you next Tuesday.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: Allowed see your next Tuesday.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: And an honest C.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: See you next Tuesday as well.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just say how it is.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: What's a pet peeve of yours?
22:43
SPEAKER_00: Got a couple of those.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: I cannot stand keyboard warriors that want to sit there and just shoot people down day in, day out, and spew their hatred.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: If you want to do that, grow a set, get out from behind your hiding image.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: And there's human beings behind that.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: So I don't like that when people get there and they just horror's online.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: So that's a pet peeve.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: And the other one is there is nothing worse that no matter what you do, someone's always got to find the oh, it's not going to work.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: It's the negative.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: It's this.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: So if you're going to come with a problem, be prepared to find a solution.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: It's a pet peeve.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: That's a good one.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: Negative antsy.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: I like that though.
23:17
SPEAKER_01: If you've got a problem, then at least come with a solution.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to take that.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: That's a good that's even a shirt right there.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: If you weren't doing your main job working at CAMS, is there something else that you would be doing?
23:25
SPEAKER_00: I wasn't doing that.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: I used to run a hotel, but I don't want to go back to being like running.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: The boss of the hotel.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: No.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: But what I used to love is working behind a bar and like creating the energy.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: I loved it.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: You get to talk to people.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: I could totally see you doing that.
23:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I loved it.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: Man, I'd love to do that.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to pour beers though.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: I don't like to get beer on my skin.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: You have a bottle.
23:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Just go to the closet.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: They do it in style.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Have a bottle, do you?
23:49
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Now, last one, something that you're truly grateful for.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: I am truly grateful that I came to broom.
23:55
SPEAKER_00: I am truly grateful.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: And that's it sounds weird, but I always say broom does one of two things to you.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: It either puts its arm around your shoulder and it shows you the door really quickly, or it puts two arms around you and gives you a hug.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: Oh, so glad I got a hug.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: You're practically the mayor of Broom.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: No, no, not really.
24:10
SPEAKER_01: I love that though.
24:12
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that sweet?
24:12
SPEAKER_01: And that's very visual.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm picturing that right now.
24:15
SPEAKER_01: And I couldn't have said that better because that's kind of that is what Broom does.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: You've been here 10 years, you got the hug.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, gosh.
24:21
SPEAKER_01: Lastly, I do this for all the episodes.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: Please give a shout out to a woman that you think is just amazing, somebody you can think off the top of your head.
24:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: She's only young.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: She's been on committee for the last few years, but she's now the co-chair and hopefully gonna take that pattern and move it on.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: But not just because of that, but Tamara, Birchill from the Rowie.
24:40
SPEAKER_00: And the reason being is that the ripe old age of 30, I have never seen a young woman be able to turn around a reputation of a hotel, work like an absolute navy, raise a child, go on so many other committees and actually contribute positively to those committees and be so involved with this local community.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: And at the age of 30, and I'll look at her and I think, aren't you tired?
25:04
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I know.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: But she's fantastic.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like a gun, like there is good, and then there's next level.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: She is next level.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: And I hope she's not listening because her head will go like this.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: I can't imagine that.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: She is an absolute standout.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: And you know what?
25:17
SPEAKER_01: I agree with you wholeheartedly on that.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: But also, she is one of those people that you want living in a community like Broom where you can go to her and you know that things are going to get done.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: Does a lot in the community that I don't think people realise.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: That's exactly right.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: Good on you.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for that shout out.
25:31
SPEAKER_01: And look, you know what?
25:32
SPEAKER_01: This has been the best chat.
25:34
SPEAKER_01: But listen, I want to thank you for coming on to She Said It Loud, definitely saying it out loud, and for being a part of this episode.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate you and everything about what you said today.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me here.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: No worries, say kill.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening to She Said It Out Loud.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: If you took something away from today's episode, I would love to hear from you.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Come find me on Instagram at officially Emma Young.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: And hit follow so new episodes land straight in your feed.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: See you next time for more real and honest stories from legendary women.