Just Like You - Love Knows No Difference

The last few months have been an amazing period of time for Piero and me. It’s been challenging, new and insanely busy – which has come with it sacrifices – but it’s been a period of where we’ve lived in the possibility rather than in acceptance of the status quo.

Late last year, Piero decided to host a photography exhibition in support of the Australian Marriage Equality campaign (gay people in Australia can’t legally get married). On some levels it was a weird decision given Piero doesn’t have any photography, exhibition or events experience. But on the level that matters, it also made perfect sense. I believe Piero came to Australia, like so many people, expecting to find the lucky country. He did find that, and indeed Australia and its people are blessed, but he also found the underbelly of our society: a simmering fear that shows up in Australian society as hatred, anger and discrimination. Piero wants to get married and he loves Australia: Just Like You suddenly made perfect sense.

Piero created the idea in conjunction with a new friend Marie-Angela – a talented photographer who had made the inspirational decision to give up her corporate job, spend a year studying photography and then pursue a new career aligned with her passion! Truly inspirational!

And so Just Like You was founded and I found myself as the third member of the team. Throughout the project our little team grew to about 6 core people and 60 volunteers and models. What I learnt throughout the experience was that our networks are amazing sources of skills, experience and passion. We put out the call for gay and lesbian people to be photographed: 40 people turned up, most of whom we didn’t know previously. We put out the call for someone to show us how to take the photos and turn them into a hangable picture: two amazing individuals who we didn’t know appeared! We asked and most importantly we believed and the universe delivered.

What was so inspiring throughout the project was seeing the passion of people for marriage equality. So many people – gay, straight or whatever – felt so strongly about this blight of discrimination on their country – that Just Like You became a vehicle through which they could express their support. The process became more important than the deliverable.

The exhibition itself was an outstanding success. Hundreds of people came to see it, the Australian Marriage Equality campaign are using the photos as part of their lobby work, our local MP for Sydney launched the event and it’s spurned an international movement with similar exhibitions planned for other Australian cities and in Europe!

Just Like You was the vision of a banker with no photography, exhibition or events experience. It came about because of a chance encounter with an amateur photographer. Like so many things, it could have been one of those conversations that came to nothing. Instead, it contributed to an excellent cause and created the most exciting few months of my life in a long time.  

Below are some links you can use to see the photos or engage in the campaign: 

• Facebook page
• Australian Marriage Equality

Then one day in a sweaty Mexican restaurant-cum-nightclub

Last Wednesday I caught up with a wonderful friend who sadly I had lost touch with over the years.

Katherine and I first met when I moved to London in 2004. She was going on a month or so leave from her job, and her company hired me as a marketing contractor to manage her workload in her absence. In that month, I worked on some awesome projects ranging from the London segment of the 2004 Olympic Torch Run to the Asian London festival. It’s strange managing someone’s workload while they’re away: you hear and see their name a lot, you sit in their chair, you see the quality of their work and you get to know all their colleagues while they themselves pretty much remain a stranger.

But a stranger she did not remain for long. When she returned, I stayed on as a contractor (thanks to another colleague’s considerable ‘stress leave’) and our friendship grew. In 2005, we went on a trip to Blackpool and the Yorkshire Dales with a couple of other friends and we had numerous nights out in London. It was fun. That pure hedonistic fun which my early days in London regularly dished up.

But like so many people do at some stage, Katherine was tiring of London (she had lived there most of her life) and decided to head to Devon to live and work an idyllic life. Sadly, we then managed to lose touch. There was email and Facebook of course, but the connection sadly faded.

Then one day in a sweaty Mexican restaurant-cum-nightclub in north London, we bumped into each other again. I wish I could say it was happy ever after but sadly not. We were back in each other’s orbits but it wasn’t the same as the early days. 

Last week, Katherine visited Sydney. Seeing her was like stepping back in time. It was one of those nights where you reminisce and remember things you haven’t thought about in years and laugh and laugh and laugh. But the best bit was that we connected on a current level as well. Our views were aligned, our outlook on life overlapped and we covered off the big things: marriage, kids and wine.

When we said goodbye in the early hours of Thurs morning, I found myself farewelling a dear friend and wondering why on earth I let such an amazing friendship fade?

Both pics taken at Gowings, Sydney. A great restaurant 

with a slightly odd approach to serviettes.