Victoria
WATCH: Trans man shares top surgery joy in viral video
Australian transgender man Sol Hall’s emotional reaction after waking up from his top surgery has gone viral. On Tuesday, the 22-year-old shared the powerful video to Twitter of the doctor carefully removing his bandages in hospital following the surgery. “I’d like to share my very personal chest reveal moment with the world,” Sol wrote on …
Faith service providers reject Religious Discrimination Bill
Leaders from six Victorian faith-based service providers say the latest draft of the Religious Discrimination Bill goes “too far” and the government should not pass it. The leaders of Anglicare Victoria (pictured above), Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, Jewish Care Victoria, McAuley Community Services for Women, Sacred Heart Mission and Uniting Vic.Tas have all signed …
Australian Open hosting ‘Glam Slam’ LGBTIQ tennis tournament
Glam Slam, Australia’s biggest LGBTIQ tennis tournament, will take place next week at the Australian Open. Offering an authentic tournament experience, Glam Slam will provide participants with the opportunity to compete in an LGBTIQ tennis competition. Tournament director Rowen D’Souza said since the its birth three years ago, the event has “grown out of sight”. …
Australians to attempt world record for largest human rainbow
The organisers of the ChillOut Festival in regional Victoria will attempt to break the world record for largest human rainbow. ChillOut is Australia’s longest-running and biggest regional LGBTIQ pride festival. It’s on in March every year in Daylesford, around 108 kilometres northwest of Melbourne. On March 7, 2020, festival organisers want to break the world …
JOY 94.9 gets the keys to Victorian Pride Centre
Australia’s queer radio station JOY 94.9 will begin broadcasting from their new home at the Victorian Pride Centre in the new year. Victoria’s Equality Minister Martin Foley recently joined Pride Centre Chair Jude Munro AO for a symbolic ceremony handing the keys to JOY staff. The radio station will join LGBTIQ youth organisation Minus18 as …
Aussie author pens kids’ novel to allow rainbow families to see themselves
Australian author Jac Tomlins has launched a new children’s novel that she believes is one of the very first to feature a rainbow family. The author and mum of three launched the book, The Curse of Grandma Maple, this week for kids in the upper primary age range. “[The novel] is not a story about …
Joel Creasey stand-up show cancelled after ‘threats to safety’
Comedian Joel Creasey has cancelled an upcoming show in Bendigo in regional Victoria, with organisers citing threats and safety concerns. The comic and TV presenter was to take to the stage at the Golden Vine Hotel next Thursday (November 14). But the show’s promoter, Golden Vine Comedy, posted on Facebook that the planned show had been …
Grindr user sentenced after attempting to rob former classmate
A Victorian man who used a fake name to hunt for victims to rob on Grindr was foiled by a former high school classmate who notified police. Thomas Samas sent “sexualised” messages to 37 Grindr users under the pseudonym “Timothy Hines” in March this year, the Whittlesea Leader reported. The 22-year-old asked the Grindr users …
New podcast to support LGBTIQ Australians impacted by suicide
A new podcast by queer radio station JOY 94.9 aims to offer “support, conversation, and comfort” to LGBTIQ Australians affected by suicide. Let’s Talk About Suicide launched today and is produced by the Melbourne radio station and two health services. Four people affected by suicide – Beau, Lara, Peter, and Alice – take part in …
Victim of bungled gay bookstore raid calls for police accountability
Nik Dimopoulos, the Melbourne man who suffered a serious shoulder injury during a botched Victoria Police raid, has demanded more police accountability on use of excessive force. On May 11, Dimopoulos was asleep in an apartment above queer bookstore Hares and Hyenas in Fitzroy when he heard intruders in what he feared was a home …