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celebrating mardi gras
ft. fuzz Ali
Join us in celebrating diversity and equality this Mardi Gras with Fuzz Ali.
Show your colours with pride, and embrace love with Mardi Gras makeup looks.
Mardi Gras is well and truly upon us, and to say we’re excited for the ultimate rainbow celebration in support of diversity and equality would be an understatement. A time to embrace and display your true colours with Mardi Gras makeup looks as well as confidently add an extra dose of sparkle to your Mardi Gras eyeshadow look (we’re always looking for an excuse to rock sparkles, who isn’t?) supporting LGBTQIA+ communities is important all year round, but this month, it’s in a league of its own.
Self-expression is the beating heart of Napoleon Perdis and this Mardi Gras, we celebrate love and
diversity with pride, and empower beauty in all its unique forms.
Aside from expressing our individuality with Mardi Gras glitter makeup and waving our rainbow flag with pride, we’re shining the spotlight on multi-faceted Aussie talent, Fuzz Ali. Dedicated to sharing the importance of diversity, we caught up with Fuzz to discuss his unwavering mission to actively promote inclusion and what Mardi Gras means to him (with a side of Mardi Gras makeup inspo).
WHAT DOES MARDI GRAS MEAN TO YOU?
For me personally, even today, Mardi Gras
is a protest, and it’s important for us all to
understand that we cannot be equal - until we
are all equal. There are still BIPOC queer and
trans youth who face significant challenges in
their journey to self-actualisation. The reason is
to protest change, but the core purpose of the
movement remains the same - for LGBTQIA+
people, young and old, to feel worth in their
humanity, and the courage to live our lives with
dignity, respect, and joy.
ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT CHALLENGES FOR ANY LGBTQIA+ YOUTH IS THE QUESTION OF FAMILY ACCEPTANCE. WHAT’S YOUR COMING OUT STORY?
I don’t know anyone my age who has had an overwhelmingly happy coming out story, and despite media representing queerness as being universally accepted, I don’t think the experience of ‘coming out’ has improved drastically. In fact up until 2018, 20.8% of bisexual people and 33.7% of lesbian/gay people reported experiencing homelessness compared to 13.4% of their heterosexual peers (according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare). The stark difference is a clear indication that acceptance is not as widespread as one might think, and the real threat of homelessness, amongst other negative repercussions leaves many queer youth anxious about what family acceptance might look like.
My coming out story is a series of ‘coming outs’, as it is for many queer people. Sometimes I feel like I’m still coming out today! First, I came out to my parents, and that took a number of conversations (and years) before it was fully understood. Then, it was the constant coming out to friends, some of whom rejected us completely - its gone on and on for years. It’s important to note though that our experiences are not universal and impacted by intersectionality’s. As a BIPOC man, I’m acutely aware of BIPOC and migrant youth experiences being vastly different from our peers.
My coming out story is a series of ‘coming outs’, as it is for many queer people. Sometimes I feel like I’m still coming out today! First, I came out to my parents, and that took a number of conversations (and years) before it was fully understood. Then, it was the constant
coming out to friends, some of whom rejected us completely - its gone on and on for years. It’s important to note though that our experiences are not universal and impacted by intersectionality’s. As a BIPOC man, I’m acutely aware of BIPOC and migrant youth experiences being vastly different from our peers.
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR SOMEONE
WHO’S SCARED OR FOR THE YOUTH WHO MIGHT
STRUGGLE TO FIND A SAFE SPACE TO TALK?
Community is always the answer. In an age of online communication, I encourage our youth, when you are legally old enough to do so, to get off TikTok and Instagram, and to start creating space again for yourselves. Start to create communities of like-minded people with whom you can share your thoughts, dreams, fears, ambitions, all of it! True community is the answer, and yes I know you can create a chat group online, but nothing beats genuine, face-to-face human connection. My advice in a nutshell – find your people, spend time with them, be vulnerable with each other. That’s where we find strength.
“LET’S FOCUS ON
CREATING A FUTURE
WHERE WE ALL FEEL
LIKE WE BELONG IN
OUR OWN COMMUNITY.”
THIS YEAR’S MARDI GRAS THEME IS ‘OUR FUTURE’,
ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO CREATE A BETTER FUTURE FOR
OUR LGBTQIA+ YOUTH?
I believe where we should always start is from the understanding that the future is not assured. The rights and spaces we take for granted today, could be taken away tomorrow, because our entire community does not yet enjoy the same level of acceptance and freedom. Our future should be defined by a concerted effort to continue our protest, for each other, ensuring that every young queer and trans person feels seen and valued, regardless of where they sit in our rainbow, and indeed where they sit in the rainbow of humanity. Look out for your BIPOC friends and understand that we are presented with a specific set of challenges in this world, and that we are not as overtly represented, and therefore do not always see ourselves reflected back in our community.
Let’s focus on creating a future where we all feel like we belong in our own community. We have spent decades fighting an outside power, to feel equal to our non-queer peers, but in that effort we have not always recognised the inequity within our own spaces. Call out transphobia, call out bi-erasure, call out racism, call out body shaming, and ignorance around disability. We are not just our orientations, and expressions – we are every single thing, every single time. Let’s look at each other’s complexities and honour them.
