Marijke recently completed a cross-institutional PhD in International law under the joint supervision of the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law & Justice, and the University of California Berkeley Center for Race & Gender. Marijke’s PhD study, Welcoming the Unwelcome: (Re)claiming space as the Black Indigenous Rainbow ‘Other’, explored through an intersectional Indigenous queer lens the invisibility, and hyper-visibility, of First Nations LGBTQIA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy peoples within their Cape York Peninsula communities, including Far North Queensland and the wider mainstream community and legal system (national/international). Marijke’s PhD Thesis addresses the multidimensional discrimination First Nations LGBTQIA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy peoples face both within, and outside, their Cape York and Far North Queensland communities. Marijke’s work has drawn international attention, notably from Oxford University who invited her to contribute to several of their upcoming publications.
In 2025 Marijke commenced the second stage of her PhD study—a Human rights photography grassroots project titled, Welcoming the Unwelcome: A Black Rainbow Homecoming. This Cape York Peninsula-based project is a multi-year photography project that will involve Marijke taking portraits and collecting contemporary narratives from First Nations LGBTQIA+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy peoples about culture and community life. All participants will be photographed in clothing, poses and locations of their choosing. Portraits and personal contemporary narratives collected will then be collated into a photography book, marking the first ever photographic and narrative celebration of Cape York Indigenous gender and sexuality diversity. The project aims to challenge existing dehumanising violent colonial queerphobic stereotypes about Indigenous peoples expressing diverse gender identities and sexualities in the Cape. All proceeds generated from the book will be returned directly to the project participants to help build financial wellness and autonomy for Cape York Black Rainbow mob.
