Two things have become very clear to me since speaking with Andy; the first being that you cannot judge a book by its cover at all and the second being that I have some inbuilt implicit biases.

What do I mean by the first statement "you cannot judge a book by its cover", we've all heard this term being thrown around before. In this scenario, I had just met Andy at a Men's Virtual Lock in night, hosted by tomorrow man and Andy was the facilitator. I then arrange to chat over the phone with Andy as I wanted to record a conversation with him around growing up in the country, travelling the world and masculinity. It was midway through our chat that he informed me that he was gay. This is where the second statement comes in. Hearing that, I was a little shocked as I had just experienced him deliver a virtual workshop where 40 males from all over Australia and the world came together and showed some real and raw emotion. I have friends who are gay and I am fully supportive of them and stand by them because they are my mates. I've often had conversations with them around their sexuality and so I'm comfortable with hearing this kind of language. However, this slight shock that I experienced made it clear to me that I still have an implicit bias around homosexuals which seeps into my life even though it is contradicting my beliefs. We all have them and they embed themselves into our subconscious through the social norms of society.

In this conversation, Andy and I talk about what it was like for him growing up as a gay male and the story behind how he became comfortable enough to take off the "straight jacket" and we explore his take on masculinity.

Keep an eye on Tomorrowman or Tomorrowwomen for upcoming virtual workshops. They are well worth it. You can visit their website here: https://www.tomorrowman.com.au/ https://www.tomorrowwoman.com.au/ or follow them on socials @tomorrowman_au @tomorrowwomen_au

Welcome my friend

EJSpark Converstaions By Ethan JolleyJun 15, 2020