OUTLine wants the rainbow community to flourish and it has launched a new campaign heading into the holiday season aimed at keeping people positive. The phone support network is taking leaps under the guidance of new General Manager Vaughan Meneses, who has high hopes the new campaign will help people celebrate the fullness of their lives and build on their strengths. Flourish is an acronym of eight major themes: Friendship, Love, Options, Unity, Relationships, Identity, Sexuality, and Hope. "We have a vision of a life where all people are respected and nurtured, not in spite of who we are, but because of who we are," Meneses says. He says no matter what your circumstances, it's possible to flourish: "It's possible for someone who has a serious diagnosed mental health issue they've actually been managing really well to be flourishing in their own life. "At the same time there are a hell of a lot of people in this world, particularly people who may not have any mental health disorder in terms of their diagnosis, but are not really flourishing – because of work stress, work pressures, family pressures – all those kinds of pressures which build up. So although they get on with their lives and they're not really suffering from depression, there's just a general kind of malaise and tiredness, they're kind of languishing and not feeling good about their lives." Flourish will be an ongoing campaign and the next phase will be released in May 2011. There will be a strong presence at the Big Gay Out and the Outgames Human Rights Conference in Wellington in March. A series of eight postcards will be handed out nationwide. "People might pick up a card and they might think about it, or they might not. They might take the card away," Meneses says. People are also asked to think about how they flourish and send photos in to OUTLine depicting it.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 15th December 2010 - 10:20am