VIC
Melbourne Council pride flag backlash
A Melbourne council is facing backlash over its new flag policy, which will see twenty minority flags, including nine different pride flags fly alongside the Australian flag throughout the year. Yarra council will fly the flags at the Clifton Hill depot and three town halls across Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy. Each site will fly the …
Melbourne gay swan couple Billy and Elliott want to be dads
A pair of male black swans at Melbourne Zoo are practising their parenting skills after the gay swans coupled up and built a nest together. Black swans Billy and Elliot are long-term residents of Melbourne Zoo. The zoo rescued both of them after suffering dog attacks in the wild. The two swans now live on …
Vic Police failures in search for trans woman Bridget Flack
Trans woman Bridget Flack’s sister says police told her there was “no more that could be done” just a few days after she went missing in Melbourne in late 2020. The comment was made only three days after the Melbourne woman’s “uncharacteristic” disappearance after Bridget (above) failed to return from a walk on November 30. …
Community angels host Drag Storytime after event cancelled
A drag storytime event in Victoria officially cancelled due to threats has gone ahead, with defiant LGBTQIA+ community members rallying to put it on anyway. Shepparton’s family-friendly Rainbow Storytime event was due to take place at Goulburn Valley Libraries on Thursday. But a day before, the library said they’d made a “difficult decision” to cancel …
LaNCE TV triumphs at 2023 Antenna Awards with ‘Best Live Broadcast’ win
Ballarat-based live LGBTQIA+ variety chat show LaNCE TV took out the Best Live or Outside Broadcast category at the 2023 Antenna Awards. LaNCE TV Ballarat is a multigenerational, intersectional television show screening on Facebook Live and Channel 31. The aim is to both showcase LGBTQIA+ storytelling, representation and visibility through arts-based practice and to promote …
Victorian neo-nazis Thomas Sewell & Jacob Hersant freed
A Victorian County Court Judge yesterday sentenced neo-nazis Thomas Sewell and Jacob Hersant to time served for their 2021 attack on hikers in a state park. Sewell and Hersant pleaded guilty in court but claimed innocence once freed. Thomas Sewell told reporters he accepted a deal to avoid spending any more time in prison. He …
LGBTIQ+ groups criticise ‘lesbians born female’ event
LGBTIQ+ groups have welcomed an Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) decision to reject the Lesbian Action Group’s “cruel and divisive” request to hold a “lesbians born female” event explicitly excluding transgender and bisexual women. The Lesbian Action Group (LAG), a collective with ties to the LGB Alliance Australia according to their website, applied to the …
Aussie design influencers Josh and Matt are engaged
Insta-famous designer duo Josh and Matt have gotten engaged after almost seven years together. Josh Jessup and Matt Moss met each other at university in Brisbane and moved in together in 2018. During the pandemic, the couple found themselves unemployed and isolated. As a result, they threw themselves into exploring their creativity and art. In …
Human Rights Commission rebuffs ‘lesbians born female’ event
The Human Rights Commission is set to deny a Melbourne-based lesbian group an exemption from discrimination law in order to promote their event explicitly excluding queer, bisexual, and transgender women. Eight members of the Lesbian Action Group, a self-described “lesbians born female” group, made the application to the Commission. The group describes itself as “organising …
Outspoken LGBTQIA+ ally Dan Andrews resigns as Vic premier
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has unexpectedly resigned from the state’s top job after nine years as leader. “When it’s time, it’s time,” he said. “Recently, in talking to my kids and Cath, thoughts of what life will be like after this job have started to creep in. “I’ve always known that the moment that happens …
