Welcome
Welcome to GAMMA, the Gay and Married Men's Association, a support group for men who are or have been involved in a long-term heterosexual relationship, and who are coming to terms with their sexual attraction to other men.
Here's a short video of introduction and orientation from GAMMA President Peter Kadwell.
Wednesday 20th June - GAMMA Midyear Dinner
There is no formal meeting on the 20th. Instead, we're holding our GAMMA Annual Dinner, and we're pleased
to announce that the speaker will be Anton Enus, longtime newsreader on SBS.
Anton is more than a journalist and newscaster. He is a native South African and a keen
long distance runner. During the 80's, in the dark days of Apartheid, he was part of the
organising team that guided South Africa into the Gay Games for the first time in 1994,
and also served on committees aimed at reconciling Johannesburg's multi-cultural gay
and lesbian communities.
It was not until 1999 and Apartheid was a thing of the past that he migrated to Australia,
leaving behind the turbulent times he lived through in his homeland.
Date: Wednesday 20th June
Venue: Rose of Australia Hotel, 1 Swanson St, Erskineville NSW Ph: (02) 9565 1441
Time: 7:00pm for drinks, 8:00pm for dinner. (Anton cannot join us till 8 as he will be at work.)
Cost: Dinner $35:00 each for three courses with some choices (the total cost of the dinner is $55.00 but GAMMA will
subsidise the outlay)
Drinks: At you own expense from the bar.
For more information, click on the
Dinner Flyer thumbnail to enlarge.
What's New
Depression: Websites and News Update
At our meeting on Wednesday May 16th, welcome guest Dr Ercel Oszer led a vigorous discussion of problems with depression as it relates to GAMMA men's lives.
There are two useful websites giving information about this very important topic, the Black Dog Institute and beyondblue. Along with other information, both sites provide checklists of symptoms that you can work through, though like most other online medical information, is general rather than specific.
Because depression is so widespread in the LGBTI community, beyondblue and the Movember Foundation (dedicated to growing facial hair for charity during November and shaving it off at the end of the month) have each allocated $1.5 million towards a campaign to reduce discrimination and promote better mental health in the community.
Former Victorian premier and beyondblue chair Jeff Kennett, who has made controversial statements about same-sex relationships in the past, recently called for Australians to "lift their game" in response to figures indicating one in three Australians still discriminate against LGBTI people.
To read more about beyondblue's initiatives, log on to beyondblue and the LGBTI population.
Keith's Story
One of GAMMA's good friends, Keith Cameron-Smith, has recently sent us the story of his journey in which he speaks not only of COMING OUT but also describes his experience as COMING HOME.
While Keith's tale is a highly individual, it also deals with the issues that many men go through. If you'd like to read it, you can find it at Keith's Story.