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Pushed to explain his stance ahead of the elections, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has said he will support a ban on “harmful” gay conversion practices in the state. Days after he claimed that the legislation was a “matter for the cabinet”, Premier Perrottet said that if re-elected, his government would provide “in-principle” support to a ban on practices that seek to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Independent Sydney MP Alex GreenwichOut gay Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich had last week announced that a law to outlaw gay conversion practices would be part of his omnibus Equality Bill. NSW Labor leader Chris Minns declared the party’s support for the legislation.Greenwich had said that his support for a future minority government would depend on them supporting the law in Parliament. “I’m grateful for the Premier’s support to end LGBT conversion practices in NSW.

Fair Day returns to Sydney’s Victoria Park on Sunday, February 19, to kick off Sydney WorldPride 2023. The all-day Queer extravaganza will also have multiple entertainment stages, dance floors, and drag performances. On the Main Stage, experience the inaugural Drag King Games, hosted by Sexy Galexy and Donny Piccolo. There will also be a Sissy Ball vogue showcase, the Molly Poppinz Drag Show, as well as performances by Nana Miss Koori, Penelope, Jamaica Moana, Seann Miley Moore, The Buoys, Beks, Carla Wehbe, and Toni Pearan.Closing out the day on the Main Stage will be Eurovision Champion Conchita Wurst.   A post shared by Sydney Mardi Gras (@sydneymardigras)At the Wonderful, Proud & Free Stage, there will be Drag Storytime with drag performers Charisma Belle and Annie Mation, as well as a Junior Drag competition, and a Kiddo Disco with performances by Nic Pes and Ray Isaac.At the Optus Arena, bring your dog friends and people friends to watch the Doggywood Parade and Pageant.

The Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch Foundation has announced they will donate $1 million to fund Sydney’s Queer museum Qtopia.During her speech commemorating the opening, Sarah Murdoch said, “Today, I’m announcing that Lachlan and I, through the Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch Foundation, will donate a million dollars to Qtopia Sydney.”She continued, “I am here as a supporter and advocate for Qtopia to be realised.“I hope our donation will encourage many more corporates, foundations, and families to invest in what will be an amazing institution. An institution that not only protects, respects, and extends the quality of future Queer lives, but saves the lives of many young Australians.”Lord Mayor Clover Moore spoke about the importance of the day.“There’s a lot to celebrate today, as many of us think about the sadness of the 90s, and it’s a significant day for Sydney’s community as the LGBTQIA+ realises, a long-held aspiration.”She went on to thank the Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch Foundation, “I want to thank Sarah and Lachlan Murdoch for their contribution,” she said.

Out Gay Australian Olympic gold medalist Matthew Mitcham joined OnlyFans and has revealed the sort of requests that he gets from followers, including for his old underwear (“the older the better”). Mitcham came out as gay ahead of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and made history as the first out gay man to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Mitcham has spoken about his battles with addiction and recently celebrated seven years of sobriety. Matthew Mitcham. Image: InstagramMitcham was honest about his motivation for joining OnlyFans – money.

While LGBTQIA+ activism in Australia did not start in 1978, the events of the first Mardi Gras Parade in 1978 were the most significant and far-reaching in Sydney’s queer history.The first activist organisations were the Australasian Lesbian Movement (originally the Daughters of Bilitis, named after the US organisation); the ACT Homosexual Law Reform Society formed in 1969; and CAMP Inc., established in 1970, which became the primary activist organisation.78ers march in the 2022 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.But how did the first Mardi Gras parade come about? Forty-five years ago, a letter from San Francisco asked Sydney activists to organise international solidarity activities in late June 1978 – the ninth anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York.US activists were campaigning against the anti-gay Briggs Initiative on the California ballot that would have made it an offence for anyone employed in a school to speak positively about homosexuality.Sydney activists formed a coalition of lesbian and gay groups which became the Gay Solidarity Group. On 24 June 1978, they staged a Saturday morning protest march around the Sydney CBD, a forum on the international gay movement and a night-time, street party for our community.

The Drag Kings are set to break a world record when they march in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) Parade on February 25.In a conversation with Star Observer, drag king Big Rod, one of the float organisers, explained, “The float is called Drag Kings Unite, and it’s really about that push for representation for drag kings and showing how diverse and huge our community is.”The Drag Kings Unite float will feature a crown made of strip lighting and a DJ on an elevated platform. The parade participants will be dressed in royal colours, symbolising the drag king community’s strength and desire for more representation in the LGBTQIA+ community.Talking about the misconceptions drag kings face, Big Rod said, “I think a lot of people think drag kings don’t exist or that we aren’t as good as [drag queens]. “I would say that it’s time to stop comparing us to drag queens and respect us as our own genre, our own art form, that is just as wonderful and diverse as drag queens, and it’s time for us to share that space a bit more.”Drag king Sexy Galexy believes that drag kings do not get the same recognition as drag queens because “we live in a man’s world.”“We’ve had our mouths taped shut and pushed back to the back rooms, small rooms, offstage.

“Bend, blend, blur or break” your perception of gender and identity at the Science Gallery’s first event of 2023, Break The Binaries. The 12 installations, ranging from interactive videos and animation, digital paintings and even live invertebrates, are “intended to create connections and conversation,” says curator Tilly Boleyn.

Hobart councillor and former mayoral candidate Louise Elliot on Monday introduced a motion to have segregated toilet facilities for trans persons and to exclude them from change rooms that correspond to their gender.Trigger Warning: This story discusses anti-trans statements, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.LGBTQI activists said councillor Elliot’s motion in the Hobart City Council violates Tasmania’s “gold standard” anti-discrimination laws. The councillor claimed that the motion was intended to make community members “feel safe and comfortable using the City’s change rooms, and toilet and shower facilities,” but on social media, the councillor Elliot turned on the anti-trans rhetoric. “Changes to Tasmania’s legislation have created an insane situation where women (and girls) no longer have the assurance that they’re dressing or showering in shared spaces where only other adult biological females are present,” Elliot said on her official page on . “This is about recognising the reality that many women feel unsafe or uncomfortable sharing vulnerable spaces like change rooms, toilets and showers with biological males,” Elliot claimed. In 2020, Elliot reportedly addressed an email to non-binary councillor Jax Fox and signed off as “Kermit (Louise) Elliot” and added “riddup – I identify as a frog”.According to Rose Boccalatte, spokesperson for Equality Tasmania, the Aquatic Centre has had inclusive facilities for over four years without any complaints. Boccalatte said that the councillor’s proposed motion was an “unacceptable solution to a non-existent problem”

Dear LGBTIQA+ visitors to World Pride 2023,Welcome to Australia from every corner of the globe for what is sure to be an enjoyable World Pride 2023.But I want you to know something about Sydney few of you will hear from World Pride organisers and spruikers: you are travelling to Australia’s most homophobic and transphobic city for an event that perpetuates the dangerous myth Sydney is Australia’s queer paradise.In the 2017 national survey on marriage equality, the lowest Yes vote was recorded in the city’s suburbs. The national vote was 61.6% but some voting divisions in Sydney returned less than half that. This low level of support for LGBTIQA+ equality reflects in Australia’s worst queer laws at a state level.The state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, has Australia’s least effective laws against LGBTIQA+ discrimination.

Five episodes in and the HBO series The Last Of Us has already become one of the most talked about shows of 2023.  The third episode of the series, which featured a gay storyline with Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman playing a gay couple, won critical acclaim.Murray Bartlett (right) and Nick Offerman play a gay couple in the HBO series ‘The Last of Us’.Ramsey plays the role of teenager Ellie in the series, who is travelling with Joel, played by Pedro Pascal, across America, after a mutated Cordyceps fungus outbreak. The Last of Us is based on a very successful video game and in Part II of the original game, Ellie falls in love with another woman Dina and also introduces a trans character Lev. Ramsey, who is non-binary, told British GQ in an interview that she was not concerned with the reaction of homophobes. Ramsey revealed that she had worn a chest binder for most of the shooting of Season 1 and had “honest” conversations around gender and sexuality with Pascal, who has a trans sister. “And they weren’t always deep: they could be funny and humorous, the whole spectrum. We were just very honest and open with each other,” Ramsey told GQ. Blair Durkee, the associate director of gaming for GLAAD, told that for “many LGBTQ people, to see characters like yourself represented in the games you play can be critical.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s spectacular new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat arrived in Sydney last week.Image: SuppliedTold through song, with the help of The Narrator, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is the story of Jacob’s favourite son, Joseph and his 11 brothers. Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers.

It was April 1968, and as an awkward young adult not long in the city from my rural upbringing, I was having an employment interview for a foot-in-the-door office job.I expected empathy from the young male interviewer as he also had a small-town upbringing.Eventually, he said I had the job, adding with a somewhat threatening tone, “You’re not a poofter, are you?” That ended any imagined empathy. He had carried his rural homophobic bias to the city and wasn’t afraid to use it. Back then, homosexuality was illegal and rarely spoken about. Gay men were never visible to straight society, and especially not to employers.

Sydney Catholic Schools’ production of School of Rock has left parents clutching their pearls at the show’s “adult themes,” forcing the school to apologise. The show, which took place at the Qudos Bank Arena, was billed as “extraordinary” and a “musical extravaganza” by Sydney Catholic Schools. A casting call video from earlier this year, featuring Sydney Catholic Schools Executive Director Tony Farley, teased, “Our School of Rock arena spectacular will be on a size and scale never seen before in our system of schools.“4000 performers from our 150 schools will perform this worldwide hit musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and be part of one of the largest musicals ever seen in the City of Sydney.”However, the “extravaganza” was overshadowed by an uproar from parents over a brief scene involving a same-sex couple, played by two male students. According to Sydney Morning Herald, Parents also complained about the language, disrespect for authority, and a scene where the children “prayed to the God of Rock.” The brief scene with a same-sex couple, however, was the transgression that really caused a stir. “Concerns have included language used in the show that is clearly unacceptable in a school or family setting, adult themes that are alluded to in the show which are in no way endorsed by Sydney Catholic Schools, and disrespect for authority that caused some concern.“Sydney Catholic Schools sincerely apologises and takes responsibility for any elements which caused offence and are undertaking a full review of all aspects of the production which will ensure that a situation such as this will not occur again.”School of Rock is the first time students from across the Sydney Catholic Schools system put on a show of this magnitude. ©

HIV organisations in Victoria have come together to identify key priorities for the next Parliament ahead of state elections in November 2022. Thorne Harbour Health, Living Positive Victoria, and Positive Women Victoria on Thursday released a document – HIV & AIDS Priorities – that has 38 recommended actions to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV and improve the state’s response to HIV. Simon Ruth, CEO, Thorne Harbour HealthThe first case of HIV/AIDS was reported in Australia more than 40 years ago. Since then there has been significant progress in HIV treatments, prevention and diagnosis.

In a recent interview, writer, and actor in his movie ‘Bros’, Billy Eichner revealed that Aussie heartthrob Liam Hemsworth was supposed to have a role in the movie.Eichner explained in an interview with Yahoo Lifestyle that in the movie Eichner and Macfarlane’s character go see a fictional movie together, a sort of parody of ‘Brokeback Mountain’. “We had a whole zoom meeting with him [Hemsworth], and he was lovely and charming and funny, but then COVID hit again, and he couldn’t travel from Australia.” Macfarlane jokingly said that Australia kept Hemsworth from being in the film, while Eichner joked about him potentially being in the sequel.Eichner and Macfarlane also spoke about how they hope the film allows for many more conversations to happen and encourage people to come out.

A gay teenager has posted video footage of bullying in a viral TikTok, after finally being sick of staying ‘silent’ about the harassment he’s received at school. Trigger Warning: This story discusses bullying, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.California high school student Landon Jones described his experiences of being bullied in a video that was posted to TikTok last month which included footage that was captured by him being targeted by bullies on two different occasions. “This is a little example of what’s going on in my life, and what’s been going on in my life.

John Oliver, host of the satirical TV news show Last Week Tonight, has gone viral for a pro-trans speech he made during his October 16 show.During the segment, Oliver discussed the fight for trans rights, with a focus on how conservatives have “truly lost their minds” about it. The host of the Emmy-winning series started by stating that over 100 anti-trans bills have been introduced in states across the United States, with 12 states signing them into law. Oliver went on to talk about the tactic used by conservatives to explain the rise in kids identifying as trans as “due to social contagion” or a “rapid onset gender dysphoria,” which Oliver said is, “total horseshit.”Oliver then pointed out that “there is ample evidence of gender variance throughout human history and as far back as historians have found evidence of trans people, they found trans children.   “And, to the extent that some young people are just exploring their gender identity, how exactly is that a bad thing? Who the fuck are they hurting?“Watching the conversation around this, it is hard not to feel like, to the extent that there is any social contagion here, it is among adults who have whipped themselves into such a frenzy that they can find themselves repeating some humiliating nonsense.”Holy shit pic.twitter.com/jAxYqytO8M— Ari Drennen (@AriDrennen) October 17, 2022Last Week Tonight with John Oliver airs Sunday nights and can be watched on Binge. © Star Observer 2022 | For the latest in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTIQ) news in Australia, be sure to visit

Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) is set to write, star in, and direct a new Queer film.The film, called Good Grief, will be released on Netflix and will also star Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast). In a post to celebrating the news, Levy wrote, “Well, this is a g d dream come true!”Well, this is a g d dream come true! https://t.co/8Opw95bAVa pic.twitter.com/iULw34n6kM— dan levy (@danjlevy) October 17, 2022Evans posted to social media, writing, “What a dream team. So thrilled.”According to Netflix, Good Grief follows Marc Dreyfus (Levy) who, after losing his mother, decides to try and distract himself with a comfortable marriage.

Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) is set to write, star in, and direct a new Queer film.The film, called Good Grief, will be released on Netflix and will also star Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast). In a post to celebrating the news, Levy wrote, “Well, this is a g d dream come true!”Well, this is a g d dream come true! https://t.co/8Opw95bAVa pic.twitter.com/iULw34n6kM— dan levy (@danjlevy) October 17, 2022Evans posted to social media, writing, “What a dream team. So thrilled.”According to Netflix, Good Grief follows Marc Dreyfus (Levy) who, after losing his mother, decides to try and distract himself with a comfortable marriage.

ABC Media Watch’s most recent episode has been criticised for platforming anti-trans talking points and targeting LGBTQI organisation ACON and its Pride in Diversity Program. The episode broadcast on Monday, October 17, claimed to be looking at the “relationship” between ABC and ACON, which runs the Australian Workplace Index Awards. “Can the ABC remain impartial when it partners with a lobby group and gets ranked in a competitive index?” the programme asked. The programme appeared to suggest that ABC’s coverage of LGBTQI issues, especially issues of the transgender community, was impacted by it participating in ACON’s Pride In Diversity initiative. Media Watch raised the issue of  independence of ABC‘s editorial coverage in  light of the fact that it participates in ACON’s AWEI program.

One of Australia’s oldest and longest running gay saunas, the Bay City Sauna located on Glen Huntly Road in the inner Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick, will close down at the end of December 2022.“We have been informed by our landlord that the construction of the slab may be compromised due to the age of the building,” Shane Gardiner, General Manager, WP van der Linden Pty Ltd, told Star Observer. Last week, the sauna had posted on social media that it was closing for maintenance from October 10, 2022.“Sadly it has come to the end of its life and the landlord has been concerned about the weight from all the equipment.