Pride Month 2025, running from June 1 to July 31, is a time to celebrate, reflect, and activate.
It honours the resilience, courage, and strength of LGBTQIA+ communities who have fought for the right to live safely, openly, and authentically.
While we celebrate the progress made, Pride also shines a light on the inequalities that persist.
For me, Pride is personal.
I am honoured to serve as a councillor in Maribyrnong, and to be the first openly gay councillor in our city’s history.
Representation matters.
I recognised I was gay as a teenager in the 1980s — a time of silence, shame, and hostility. Homophobia was socially accepted.
High school was isolating. Surrounded by homophobic slurs and cruelty, I learned to hide who I was — not from lack of pride, but from necessity. I vividly recall a student in Year 9 saying he was glad Freddie Mercury was going to die because “AIDS is a gay disease and he should die.”
At 16, I found the courage to come out. By 18, I was living with my first partner while completing Year 12. My story is one of resilience — the courage to live authentically and build a life of purpose.
My partner Vanessa lived with deep and painful shame. At 21, she took her own life. Her loss remains one of the most defining experiences of my life. Vanessa’s absence fuels my advocacy and my belief that we all share responsibility to build a more compassionate, inclusive world.
The research is clear: LGBTQIA+ youth who have access to supportive communities experience significantly lower rates of suicide, mental health distress, and self-harm. Belonging is protective. Safety is a basic human right.
Yet even in 2025, LGBTQIA+ people — particularly trans and gender-diverse individuals — still face disproportionate violence, systemic marginalisation, and barriers in healthcare, housing, education, and employment. Pride remains critical because equality is still incomplete.
For many of us who grew up when our identities were criminalised or erased, Pride is both defiance and healing. It is a declaration that we have not only survived but built vibrant, resilient communities.
Representation matters because it breaks silence, challenges invisibility, and affirms that every LGBTQIA+ person deserves to be seen, celebrated, and to envision a future where they can live fully and authentically.
Happy Pride. You are seen. You are valued. You are loved.
