By Luke Voogt
An “hour of rainbow power” will mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) in Geelong, a local gay pride group has announced.
Geelong Rainbow Inc will live stream drag acts and other performances from The Piano Bar on Sunday, beginning at 5.30pm, co-president Jo Bangles said.
“We’re encouraging community members to message us while we’re performing live.”
The North Shore local, now 47, came out in the ’90s when she was 20.
“Back [then] Geelong was not a safe place to be a gay woman,” she said.
She experienced violence because of her sexual preferences and an employer once told her she could not take her partner to a Christmas breakup party, she said.
“It was so humiliating and awful – I was absolutely devastated.”
Jo does not want young people to experience the discrimination she did, which is why she was proud to be “visible”, she said.
“If I had someone that was this visible when I was growing up, my life would have been different. You can draw real strength from role models.”
Jo said she had seen a “massive change” in Geelong becoming more accepting but “we still have a long way to go”.
Jo saw a few Rainbow Inc members face-to-face for the first time in more than a month on Wednesday following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
While some in the LGBTIQA+ community had been more connected than ever online during the pandemic, many felt isolated from their support networks, Jo said.
“The reality is a lot of our community lived in isolation pre-COVID-19,” she said.
“Parts of our community are in lockdown with their not-so-accepting family. We’re trying to keep people connected.”
More information: search Geelong Rainbow Inc on Facebook
Luke Voogt
