HELLO!

I'm Sarah, your friendly Alphabet Mafia Facilitator. Being that I'll be hanging out with you/your kiddo, I thought you might want to get to know me a bit.

So here you go; I hope this "About Me" blurb isn't as embarrassingly awkward as I think it is.

I didn't realise I was bi until I was 36 years old; 6 months before my wedding day.  What a shock! Talk about terrifying. For someone who had always been such a staunch supporter of all things LGBTQIA+ you'd think I would have worked it out sooner. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, I was 36, suddenly realising I was very much attracted to women, and about to marry a man; a man that I had been in a relationship with for the previous 16 years. We had kids and bought a house together. (We also sort of did life backwards and got married last haha) 

It was a rollercoaster of emotions, with lots of talking, freaking out, more talking, questioning, anxiety, more freaking out, lots of tears, more talking, acceptance, and then marriage.

But just because I married my husband doesn't make me any less queer.

I'm in my 40s now and have worked with young people in a variety of roles.

My husband and I run a disability support business which started off as a means of social participation for Autistic Youth using Dungeons & Dragons, this kind of unintentionally morphed into us being full time carers.

We previously lived in Campbell Town where we ran D&D groups as part of the High School's Community Co-Pilots Program. I was co-facilitator for the local girl's group through Free2Be Girls, and I ran a safe-space lunchtime chat for high school kids.
 
I've done foster care trauma training,

Free2Be Girl's Facilitator training, 

Teen Challenge Youth Mentor training, 

NAPCAN Child Safe Organisation training,

Community Services Certificate II, 

The Wheel of Wellbeing workshop, and 

The Safe Zone training for Group Facilitators.

I have my Working With Vulnerable People card.

On paper I'm super qualified, but who am I REALLY?

I'm neurodivergent and queer which is a combination you see a LOT, surprisingly. I've lived in Tasmania for 10 years, and in the Huon Valley for almost 2 (at the time of writing this) I'm a nerd and a little bit geeky; I play video games, (currently rolling a Ninja in FFXIV, but also love mindless mobile gaming, and D&D) and I'm obsessed with stationary, stickers, pins, notebooks, calendars, and journals that I never use. I love admin type work (see, total nerd) and will happily create basic websites and forms and do data entry and business marketing stuff for fun.  I collect tarot cards, love astrology, and Zombie flicks are my jam. I love to read, but sometimes my ADHD gets in the way, and I end up with about 5 half read books scattered around my house (oops)

 

I self-describe as youthful, a little chaotic, embarrassingly forgetful (thanks ADHD), a wife and a mum to 2 teenage kids.  I love big dogs AND cats and own 2 of each.  I've been told I have a great sense of humour; and I sing far too much for someone who really can't (just as well I have a good sense of humour). I also REALLY love coffee.

So why the Alphabet Mafia?

My youngest is trans, he was the first openly gay kid at his last high school and the first open trans person in the whole town, which happened to be a very conservative, insular, country town. There was a lot of generational families who had never been anywhere else. Had never experienced diversity of any kind. It was hard for my boy; rumours were rife, we became the even weirder, weird family. I hated the isolation for him. I hated the judgement. He's such a loving, compassionate, gentle kid and all people would focus on was his sexuality and gender. Outside of home, he had no support, and he would tell me stories of other queer kids at school who had been shunned, punished, and threatened by their family members.  

I couldn't stand the thought. It tore at my heart in ways I didn't imagine. I wanted to bundle them all up and bring them home and show them what love-without-judgement was like. I wanted to tell them they were amazing, and valid, and brave. I hated it for those kids, and for all the kids who lacked support, understanding, safety and love. So I decided to provide a space where they could get those things. It couldn't happen in the country town we were in at the time, as much as I tried, but when we moved here, I knew I'd found the perfect place. 

The Huon as a whole, and in particular Franklin, where we live, has been very welcoming for my family, for my children. There is so much visible support for our community. Trans people can be out and proud and obvious without fear. There are rainbow flags and supportive stickers in so many store fronts. There are LGBTQIA+ Community Groups for adults, and it's great! More places should be like this.

But I also know there is still an undercurrent of hate, of ignorance and judgement; and I want to provide a space where kids are protected from that. I want to provide a space where they can learn to be who they are and THRIVE! I want to see our youth be bold and vibrant and confident. I want them to go out into our community with pride.


Whether they have access to those things at home or not, they will always have it within The Mafia. We're a family now :D


That's why I do what I do. I hope you'll support me in my goals.

And if your kid has come out, or you suspect they might come out, I have a space for you too. You can find the link on the aptly named "links" page.

Yours queerly, 
Sarah