Bush Lemons a Lesbian bushwalking based in Blue Mountains. In May of 2020 they received a grant from Lesbians Incorporated to help fund a new project they have begun to document their group and the experience of their members.
Bush Lemons began in 1996 and has always been an open and welcoming group for lesbians who come to live in the mountains and those who live in the Sydney area and travel up to bush walk each Saturday. Bush Lemons are turning 25 next year and received the grant to help produce a ‘short film’ documentary to celebrate this event and to raise important issues that affect lesbians in urban and regional NSW. They hope when this documentary is made and shown it will celebrate their herstory and serve for advertising their existence to other lesbians who would like to be involved in the bush walking and/or the photography group.
You don’t need to be an experienced bush walker or physically fit to be part of ‘The Lemons’. In recent years a spin off group called Macro-Lems means members can drive to a beautiful or interesting area, walk a short distance and spend some time taking photographs. Most recently 15 women from this group each wrote a chapter about their experiences and the levels of resilience they needed to deal with crisis situations in their lives. The book, which contained short stories, poems, photographs and paintings, was published as ‘Time to Fly’.
The documentary would focus initially on the resilience needed by members of the group and their stories. Set against a backdrop of 25 years of pictorial history and interviews with lesbians who will also discuss the importance that bushwalking and belonging to Bush Lemons has had in their lives. This will be a documentary about survival and friendship. It will showcase the reasons why Bush Lemons is such a long standing and respected lesbian group in Blue Mountains LGBTQI community. With the intent to enter the documentary into the ‘Short Film Awards’ and hopefully have it shown at the ‘QueerScreen Mardi Gras Film Festival’ in 2022.
Bush Lemons believe bushwalking is a great way of meeting others in a neutral space, making new friends, renewing old friendships, seeing the beauty of the bush, challenging yourself physically if you wish to do so, and being healthy and keeping fit … they also have a lot of fun!
Please go to the Bush Lemons website for more information.