Saturday 7th July
8pm-1am
The Pullman Hotel (formerly the Hyatt)
Auckland

There is a  Fabulous theme: Butch & Burlesque

A Fantastic Band: The Mermaids

A very Funny MC: Urzila Carlson

A Flirty entertainer: Miss Phloss and the Drag Princes

Tickets are $80 each + booking fee via iTicket – Buy Now!

Cash tickets are available at The Women’s Book Shop – Ponsonby Rd

HURRY – Tickets selling fast and strictly no door sales.

Leo is an emerging MC and performing artist originally from Christchurch City (so pretty in the summertime). Now based in South Auckland Leo has a lyrical style and flow that will either have you on the floor or wanting more. She has a passion for poetry and the spoken word drawing inspiration from her Maori ancestry, urban surroundings and relationships.
Leo makes her debut at Flirt December 17th.

10pm start time and $10 covercharge.

Where:
Family Bar Downunder
Krd – Auckland
(Look out for the pink Flirt sign above the door)

When: third Saturday of every month
$5 Cover charge
Dj Danielle & Dj Starli

Keep an eye on the events page  for other girl events happening!

When: Sat 15th January
Where: Family Bar DownUnder – Krd – Auckland
10pm start & $5 cover charge

LadyFix – Bikini Party
19th Feb
10pm start & $10 covercharge
Prizes for hottest bikini
Family Bar Downunder

LadyFix nights will be held on the third sat of every month. For upcoming dates keep an eye on the events page.

These two ladies are not afraitd to tell it like it is, and they are also very wise…So if you need some advice, go ahead and email editor@ladyfix.co.nz
(Put Agony Aunts in the subject line).

Dear Agony Aunts!

I work in a fairly small office. I’m pretty good friends with most of the people, and I like my job. But recently one of the senior associates has been flirting with me. She’s totally straight, I’ve seen the guys she dates. No one at work knows I’m gay, her flirting is becoming more obvious. She is really attractive.  What should I do?
Anxious – Cubicle #5.

Dear Anxious – Cubicle #5,
Does she know that you like girls? If you have made that clear I believe that you have every right to pursue this. But NOT AT WORK!
If you are ready to socialise outside of work invite her to have a drink with you or lunch.
Remember that if you have misread this situation you still have to work together.
Sexual harassment discussions with your manager are no fun. Keep it clean.

Holly & Madison

Dear Agony Aunts,

I started seeing this girl. We were ‘together’ around 2 months.. However, two weeks into it – after having rejected her proposal of entering into a formal relationship – she realised she wanted to give her ex-girlfriend another go. Of course I decided it would be best to stop seeing her.

Her ex g/f was overseas for two weeks. We continued to see each other despite my best intentions not to. During this time,  I had begun developing deeper feelings for her, and knew it would be wise to cease all contact. In fact I made pledges to her, and myself to do so. Only I could not resist her advances. Her ex returned and she had officially decided to resume the relationship. We have come to the agreement that we would be friends. We have caught up a few times and there has been more than friendship physical contact.  Most recently we technically slept together.

I know we cannot be together, but it saddens me that we won’t really ever have a second chance to have a decent go at it.
Do I walk away?
 - Confused

Dear Confused,
You poor dear deluded girl. Turn off your phone, delete her e-mails and RUUUUUUUNNNNNN. You are better than that and you know it.
Sweeter is the honey which you can see and never taste.
She does not deserve your attention whilst she is otherwise engaged and you need to give her the chance to let her other relationship run its course.
Be strong and good luck. It will only get better with time.

Holly & Madison

Well LadyFix readers – What do you think about this advice?

What would you recommend to ‘Confused’ and ‘Anxious – Cubicle #5′.

Post your comments now!

Due to low attendance since winter began Candy bar is leaving the Naval & Family bar.
The Closing party will be held the first weekend of October and will feature the best of Candy bar’s DJs and dancers on the Friday & Saturday, and the fabulous Dykes on Mics night on the Sunday…

“We were very excited to have been given the opportunity to bring you Candy bar on a weekly basis, and bringing you everything that Candy bar can be”, says Kim Lucas, Candy Bar founder.
“But we now realise that there are not enough of you girls, and your friends, to keep such a bar going, especially as it seems you all hibernate for winter!”
“ But we gave it a good go and want to thank you all for your support so far”.

Not all is lost says Kim, “We will then be running a monthly Candy bar party at a central Auckland venue soon -  Which will have all the best bits of Candy bar but be more suitable for the Auckland Lesbian population. “ Details to be given very soon…

Come and spend a last weekend at this very lovely venue with the gorgeous Candy Girls keeping you well lubricated with our great selection of cocktails, shots etc

The closing weekend will be one big party – 1st, 2nd 3rd October,
Free entry everynight.

Open Fri 7pm-3am, Sat 7pm-3am, Sun 5pm-11pm

Candy bar – upstairs from Naval & Family, 243 K rd, Auckland

Check Facebook Candy bar NZ for more info & updates!!

Winter is over so lets celebrate!

When: Saturday 25th September

Where: Family Down Under
K-rd, Auckland
(The bar underneath Family Bar)

Start Time: 10pm
door charge - $5

Katherine Mansfield, it turns out, is not just the author of one of the slightly dull short stories you studied in high school English.
She is also one of the many colourful characters who make up the history of women who love women in New Zealand.

Mansfield was having affairs with women long before the word ‘lesbian’ was introduced.

Other notable females include Amy Bock, who in 1909 impersonated a man so convincingly she was able to marry a woman without being found out.

And then there was Freda Stark who became famous for dancing at the Civic Theatre clad only in gold paint in the mid-1930s. She was the lover of Thelma Mareo, who was murdered by her husband Eric.

These are the women who paved the way for New Zealand lesbians of today.

Few of them were political characters; they were simply women who went about their lives in the same way we all do now.
But instead of iPhones, Facebook and Flirt they had farm work, theatre performances and often, husbands.

It was relatively common for Maori sexuality in the early 1800s to fluctuate and therefore both men and women indulged in same-sex relationships, usually of a sexual nature.

All was fine and dandy until the British colonists arrived and threw the whole thing out of sorts. They deemed it unnatural signalling a shift in thinking.

Charlotte Museum coordinator Jenny Rankine says they didn’t see sexuality as a fixed identity but views changed again in the 1700s and 1800s.
“It was accepted and condoned as long as a female didn’t take on male roles or dressed as males,” Jenny says.
“That was a big no-no.”

Oddly, some European women (the more well to do women)  even took their female lovers on their honeymoons with them.  Some of these early female-lovers  were actors, dancers and artists usually working class.
Many resorted to living as men so they could work to earn a living and support a female partner.

They were labelled inverts, uranians, third sex and of course, sapphists.
None of these women called themselves lesbians.
“That’s taking a recent label and placing it in the past,” Jenny says.

Even the word homosexuality wasn’t around until 1869.

Things started going downhill in the 1980s when it was redefined as a type of person rather than a type of behaviour.

“It went from being a sin to an identity that needed medical attention,” Jenny says.

Homosexuality was then treated with electro-convulsive therapy, the same treatment given to Janet Frame, to cure people of their ‘sickness’.

Then along came Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker who murdered Pauline’s mother in Christchurch in 1954 (Peter Jackson’s movie Heavenly Creatures is based on these girls).

Their names will (ahem) go down in lesbian history but not for a good reason.

Lesbianism was seen as evil following the girls’ convictions and made many women afraid to come out.

The Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969 marked the start of the Gay Liberation Movement worldwide and New Zealand started to gradually follow suit.

The first lesbian social club, KG Club (standing for Kamp Girls club) opened in 1971 in private houses around Auckland.

Further progress was made in 1974 when the first National Lesbian Conference was held in Auckland.

The world’s first lesbian centre was opened in Wellington in 1979.

Homosexual Law Reform Act was passed in 1986.

Then along came the Topp Twins, the lesbian twin sisters from Huntly who became famous for more than just their yodelling. Their documentary Untouchable Girls became the highest-grossing documentary in New Zealand.

Slightly before this though was the year civil unions were made legal between both heterosexual and same-sex couples.

This brings us almost up to the present day.

The Charlotte Museum was established in Auckland in 2007 and was the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

It’s worth a look for any lesbian who wants to know a little more about the women who came before us.

It’s open on Wednesdays from 12pm til 4pm and Sundays 1.30pm to 4pm.
 They often have  film showings and talks on lesbian issues.

Visit www.charlottemuseum.lesbian.net.nz .

You’ll find out a whole lot more than what I can give you here and it’ll make you look at Katherine Mansfield in a whole new light.

Who makes up the Razor band
Kelly – lead singer,  Emma – drums and backing vocals,  Leanne – guitar,  Deb – bass,
Wendy – guitar and backing vocals

You started in 2003 to play at the Lesbian ball, how did you get together, were you all friends? Whose idea was it.
Emma gave me a call and told me to go to her house.  I arrived and met Deb and Leanne. Emma tossed me some lyrics to Cool Woman by Def Leopard and we just went from there.  Seven years later we’re still going!
It’s been amazing getting to know the girls.  Playing live together creates a bond between us that you never experience unless you are part of a live band… it’s very hard to explain but it really is the best drug in the world.

How did you come up with the name Razor?
We wrote so many names down but the only one that we felt kind of suited us was Razor.  We think we are edgy, or maybe we are just on the edge lol! 
But seriously, it had all the right connotations – being lesbians we know what it means to be on the edge of society but if you mistreat a razor you will get hurt and we kinda liked that!

How do you decide what songs you will play?
We all offer songs that we like then we have a crack at them and if we don’t like them we just say “hate it”.  The song pretty much gets dropped after that but at least two of the band have to hate it. 
What’s cool is sometimes we think a song will suck and it ends up been  great to play and sing. 

How often do you practice – do you play regular gigs or just gay events?
We are a casual band but we play all sorts of crowds… straight audiences absolutely love us!!! 
We played in Tauranga at an after-theatre party that had hundreds of very conservative, straight people and they had heard we were a ‘lesbian band’ so it took about two songs to get them to like us then they just went crazy for Razor. Rock will always transcend homophobia, racism and sexism… that’s why I love it so much! 

Who are your favourite lesbian bands/musicians?
Joan Jett, Grace Jones, Pretenders, The Runaways, Florence & The Machine, Pink (although I hate her image but I can’t fault her as a singer), Ladyhawke… I could go on for hours but those are the ladies that come to mind right now.

What can we expect on Saturday night?
A great time from a bunch of chicks who love to rock and aren’t afraid to get down and dirty!

So ladies make sure you head on down to Candy Bar this Saturday to check out this great band.

Launch parties will be happening:

Wellington Friday 9th July
- At The Garden Club, 9pm.
(See flyer for more details)

Auckland Saturday 10th July
- Family & Navel, Krd, 10pm.