Growing up as a gay Aboriginal kid living in the Illawarra’s southern suburbs in the 1980s, Kenny Lock knew more than his fair share about discrimination.
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At 15, he was kicked out of home by his homophobic stepfather and headed for Oxford Street where he met indigenous drag queen named Legs Loretta.
Sharing the same name as his mum, Loretta took Kenny under her wing, and a year later, his alter ego, drag queen Mariah, came into existence.
“When I’m Mariah, she’s the queen of the Illawarra,” the now 42-year-old says.
When I’m Mariah, she’s the queen of the Illawarra.
- Kenny Lock
On Thursday, Kenny donned a different costume to Mariah’s dresses and sparkles – a simple black apron with “book” printed across his chest – to tell his story as part of TAFE Illawarra’s Living Library.
The annual event, run by Community Services students, is designed to bring together a diverse collection of Illawarra residents. Instead of loaning books, participants “borrow” different people and spend time hearing their stories.
Among the other “living books” joining Kenny to tell their tales, were Syrian refugee and doctor Mousa Al Ahmad, gay mum-of-two and reformed addict Kylie Player and Turkish woman Selma Aksu, who spoke about arranged marriage, women’s education and why she wears a headscarf.
Kenny said telling a bunch of strangers about his childhood struggles and subsequent acceptance in the drag community had been an empowering experience.
“I’ve never really spoken about my life – only bits and pieces – but today I’ve been talking about my childhood, coming out of the closet, being Aboriginal,” he said.
“I’ve suffered depression, but I’ve helped out young people in the gay community and the Aboriginal community too. I’ve had to fight discrimination on both fronts, but now it doesn’t really bother me. You know what they say, I’m here, I’m queer, get used to it.”
Living Library organiser Jordan Robinson said the event was based on a Copenhagen initiative designed to discourage prejudice and division in Danish society.
“It’s basically a safe place for people to come and talk to other people who they might not normally get the chance to hear from in the community,” he said.
“We’ve encouraged all type of people to come – people with prejudices or if you’re just curious – to bring people together and open their minds.”