Body Diversity

I’m often asked, “How are you so body confident”. Well, you guessed it I’m not your stereotypically marketable muscle-bound gay Jock, that they try to promote as the only accepted body form in our community that’s worth acknowledgement.

The celebration of Body Diversity is long overdue, and one which could help many of our community on the brink of self-destruction understand their beautiful place in the world.

If it’s not hard enough being just in the LGBTI community as it is, we now have to be something else which for many of us is not achievable or even desirable.

Are we so short-sighted to think that everyone really fits in the same mould? The advertising and marketing worlds would have us believe exactly that.

The interesting thing is that this body form is such a small part of what makes up a very colourful array of our community it seems as most are missing the bigger picture and opportunity for celebration.

What makes us so special as human beings is not the labels given to things that embody us, but the difference that create them in us in the first place.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you I have all the answers, but I will tell you what I have personally experienced and focusing on how I deal with and love myself has helped me and I, in turn, have helped others through example.

What I have learnt is that we live in a world where being different causes fear in most and acknowledging difference is shunned if it opposes our own belief systems. The beauty is we don’t have to put that much pressure on ourselves, we don’t have to accept other’s personal moral checklists, but we do need to acknowledge that others may have these ticked on theirs and we need to be ok with that, and see the beauty in it as well.

By doing this we allow the individual to have achievable personal life standards, that can be achieved, maintained and celebrated.

My goal is to be the voice, that ear for all those needing a body-positive influence in our community.

Mr Gay NZ will be an avenue to allow me to be that guide for our community, this will be my legacy in this reign and beyond.

Last Updated on Feb 1, 2020