Stella

When I saw something this morning on facebook about Stella’s passing, my first reaction was to think it was some sort of joke she’d concocted, which tells you a lot about how far Stella was willing to go for a laugh. Surely, this was some set up for a searing critique of the way we […]
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 […]
Blurred Lines

This article appeared in the Star Observer on 4 October 2013. My Facebook feed, dominated by queers, has been quick to share parodies and outraged blog posts about Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines. But where is the outrage when it comes to the ‘blurred lines’ in our own community, namely the appalling way we tend to […]
Telling our Stories
Last night I gave a speech at the launch of a pozible crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the production of Gayby Baby. For me this documentary is special because it celebrates the kind of family I was raised in – one with same sex parents – and it also celebrates the kind of family I […]
Want to know about gay parenting? Ask the children
This article first appeared on ABC’s The Drum on May 15, 2012. It was written in response to a group – Doctors for the Family – speaking out against same sex parenting. To the Doctors for the Family, We – Maeve Marsden, Maya Newell, Rowan Savage, Raj and Jesse Wakeling – are a group of adults […]
Growing Up Other
These articles, by Maeve Marsden and Maya Newell, first appeared in Cherrie Mag in February 2012, in the lead up to the Queer Thinking panel discussion, Growing Up Other, that Maeve hosted and coordinated. Maeve Marsden and Maya Newell both have two mums. As part of the Mardi Gras ‘Queer Thinking’ program they are presenting Growing up Other: Adult […]
The Kids are NOT alright
I finally got around to watching The Kids are Alright last night. Anyone not up to speed, google it, watch it or be prepared for spoilers. Basic premise is a family with 2 kids and lesbians mums. The teenage son wants to find their sperm donor so they look him up and contact him. He […]
he’s like the wind
Throughout primary school I spent most weekends in the company of a dear friend named Cleo. Our friendship is defined in my memory by dance classes and two films which we watched incessantly. Shaping the cushions of her brown velour couch around us to make dashboard and roof, we pretended we were at a drive […]
The Battle for Fun: Queers & Straights
I recently posted this photo to the ‘this is oz’ website, an Australian initiative which basically involves people posting an anti-homophobia message in the form of a photo of themselves with a handwritten sign. The posts vary from playful, to political, to passionate pleas for equality, to more abstract statements. I have received mixed responses […]
‘An Other Tourist’ or ‘The Problem with Straight People’
The other day Kamilla and I were spat at for kissing in the streets of Dubrovnik. Now, I myself have great disdain for overt public displays of affection, but the violent hate on this man’s face told me that it was our gender and not any perceived cutesy romanticism that led him to part with […]