NSW’s leading sexuality and gender diverse health organisation, ACON, is bringing LGBTQ+ women and their allies together to mark International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March 2024 at a special event at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.
Observed annually on 8 March, International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and also marks as a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
Produced by ACON with support from Women NSW, Celebrating LGBTQ+ Women will feature live music, performances and creative engagements led by a diverse array of artists from our communities. The event will provide an opportunity for LGBTQ+ women and allies to gather in a dynamic social space, access health and wellbeing resources, and officially launch Word on the Sheets, ACON’s groundbreaking new sexual health website created by and for LGBTQ+ women.
The entertainment line-up includes performances from singer/songwriter June Jones, South Asian fusion dance company Bindi Bosses and burlesque artist Demon Derriere; tunes with DJ Gemma, a Wiradjuri Wave weaving with Peta-Joy Williams, and visual artwork by Aretha Brown. It will be hosted by TV presenter, producer, writer and actor Faustina “Fuzzy” Agolley.
ACON Deputy CEO Karen Price says: “International Women’s Day is a global event that celebrates women, while also drawing attention to gender inequality and action that needs to be taken in a number of areas. The NSW Women’s Strategy includes sexuality and gender diverse women as a focus population – recognising that diversity, equity and inclusion are key priorities that require attention for all women to thrive in NSW. ACON is proud to be supported to curate this event, allowing us to celebrate and profile diverse and talented women – while also promoting new and important work ACON is undertaking to improve the health of our communities.
Speaking about the NSW Women’s Strategy and the support for this event, the NSW Minister for Women Jodie Harrison said: “The NSW Government is committed to challenging gendered norms, roles and expectations to drive changes to discriminatory attitudes and beliefs. Our guiding principle is inclusion – to improve outcomes for women and girls regardless of sexuality, cultural background, gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability socioeconomic status or location.
“Congratulations to ACON for hosting this special event to celebrate International Women’s Day, and the launch of Word on the Sheets. The NSW Government is pleased to be able to support this event, and we will continue to work with ACON towards better outcomes for gender diverse women across the state.”
Price added “While the event promises to be an amazing night, we will also be raising awareness of important health programs accessible to women at ACON. Our programs are increasingly broad, supporting women in our communities including services that focus on mental health, sexual health, trans and gender diverse health, healthy relationships, the prevention and early detection of cancer and beyond. In these and other areas, ACON’s commitment to improving the health of LGBTQ+ women is unwavering and growing.
“We are particularly excited the launch ACON’s new sexual health resource, Word on the Sheets, our latest women-led initiative designed to improve the sexual health knowledge and practices of LGBTQ+ women, at this event.”
ACON will be inviting women to again fill in our SWASH (Sydney Women and Sexual Health) Survey – the eleventh iteration of this important health survey, run in partnership with Sydney University.
“We are grateful to all the artists and performers, as well as the support for this event from Women NSW and the Minister for Women – the event would not be possible without them and we are excited to share a special night with our communities,” concluded Price.
CELEBRATING LGBTQ+ WOMEN
An evening with ACON for International Women’s Day
7pm, Friday 8 March 2024
The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, West Circular Quay, The Rocks, Gadigal land.
A Free Event – bookings essential at acon.org.au/women
This event is proudly funded by Women NSW as part of NSW Government.
Note: This event contains adult themes. Parental guidance is recommended for those under 18. Step-free access is available to/from the venue. This event will be Auslan interpreted. For further accessibility information, please email: women@acon.org.au.
ENDS
For more information please contact: David Alexander, ACON Media and Communications
E: dalexander@acon.org.au T: +61 (02) 9206 2044 M: +61 (0)428 477 042