Community Comes Together for Candy Royalle

This article appeared on Gay News Network on 9 August 2014. Get along to support Candy Royale on August 24, or donate via the youcaring.com fundraiser page.

My name is Maeve Marsden and I hate the word ‘inspirational’. I am so desensitised to the Videos That Will Change Your Life shared daily on the book of face that I actively avoid any clips about people who might be construed as an ‘everyday hero’.

And so it was that I almost didn’t click on a video produced by local queer poet and artist Candy Royalle (pictured, above) when it sailed past my eyes as I scrolled down that familiar blur of blue. It was titled ‘Love’ and, with a screencap of a sunset as its holding image, it had all the markers of the kind of thing I regularly dismiss – the memes of misquoted dead heroes and clichéd proverbs pasted over pictures of trees. It was only what I knew of Candy’s reputation as a politically engaged, clever, well-respected poet that led me to click. And I am so glad I did.

Read the rest of the post and watch the video on gaynewsnetwork.com.au