Category: Relationships

A drag queen who could actually lip sync. A Pride board colleague, sweet-souled and now quietly absent. A nightclub instant-friendship with a man of shared politics, shared complications, and a quick temper that has occasionally misfired. Three Elizabeths, a Daddy, and twenty-two years of Melbourne friendship in all its imperfect glory.

A first big trip. A mother and son on Queensland Rail, heading south to visit family. A cousin with a church group and an enormous quantity of alcohol. A homecoming that went badly wrong. A holiday cut short and a train back to Cairns — rather sooner than planned.

A chat floor. A flight to Melbourne. A week in a motel and a tram ride through a city neither of them lived in together for long. What followed was a friendship of twenty-five years — irregular, occasionally fractious, and entirely genuine. Until, recently, it wasn’t.

Brett reflects on his enduring friendship with Paul — confidante, co-conspirator, and fellow traveller through some of the most memorable nights and meaningful moments of his life. From InterPride conference bars to a Staten Island keynote, theirs is a friendship built on loyalty, laughter, and an unspoken understanding that simply endures.

What began as a Sunday afternoon encounter stretched into three years of long-distance hope, manipulation and heartbreak spanning Melbourne and India. Brett recalls the red flags he missed, the borders he fought to open, and the man who repaid his loyalty with theft, lies and abandonment.