Shane Gardner grew up in suburban Melbourne before moving to country Victoria in the late 1970s. Shane left school in his mid-teens and started his early career in the transport industry. He married his wife in the 1980s and they had 2 children together. By the time he was in his late 30s his attraction to men became undeniable. He moved back to Melbourne and eventually agreed to become general manager of a variety of sex on premises venues throughout Melbourne.
Laurence Billiet is a writer, producer and director whose documentary Freeman was the most watched documentary of 2020. She has an extensive background in storytelling the world over, worked for organisations such as Lonely Planet, Elite Models, National Geographic, Discovery Channel, recently she staged large-scale fashion and music events across China and Europe for which she experimented with giant screens video .With her production company General Strike, Laurence combines her experience across narrative content and form to create new kinds of screen-based experiences. Her latest feature film, THE GIANTS details the extraordinary life of Bob Brown intertwined with the story of Australia's giant trees. She is the recipient of the Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2021 NSW Premier Literary Awards.
Teresa Ma is of Chinese descent and emigrated to Australia with her parents and younger sister when she was 9. Teresa pushed the LGBTIQ aspect of her life aside until well into adulthood due to her strong Catholic beliefs and the fear of upsetting her strict Catholic family. Teresa engaged with a Catholic organisation called Courage which sought to promote celibacy for same sex attracted people, but eventually discovered Acceptance Melbourne which is an organisation committed to supporting LGBTIQ+ Catholics across Victoria. She is the current President of Acceptance Melbourne and works in the drug and alcohol addiction space.
Chris Orr is of European and Narungga decent. After studying art & design and graphic design at a tertiary level in the 1980s, he founded a graphic design practice, Beige, strongly anchored in the street art aesthetic. Chris believes art can be created from the most mundane of objects- an attitude in part derived from working in graphic design.
Jasper Peach is a Victorian based trans, non-binary and disabled writer. Jasper is passionate about equitable access and inclusion, focused around the dismantling of misplaced shame via storytelling. Their first book ‘You’ll be a Wonderful Parent’ is a collection of advice and encouragement for new and prospective queer parents.