Author and gay rights activist Daniel Witthaus will be at Footscray library next month to read from his new novel.
The 38-year-old author of Beyond Priscilla: one gay man, one truck, one big idea has been supporting LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual) people and challenging homophobia in Australia’s schools and rural communities for about 18 years.
Mr Witthaus, raised in Geelong, began volunteering in gay and lesbian youth support groups in 1996 and was determined to make more Australians supportive of younger people.
“The experiences of the young people in that group convinced me I wanted to play my part in making Geelong a safer, more supportive place for young people like them,” Mr Witthaus said.
His career rocketed after he piloted homophobia program Pride & Prejudice in an all-boys’ Catholic school in Geelong in 1999.
Mr Witthaus said there had never been a better time to be an LGBT activist.
“I’ve spent most of my life working in regional, rural and remote communities, as well as the metro fringe – all the places where people think that challenging homophobia will be most difficult,” he said.
“Footscray’s interesting because there are great stories of LGBT people going back 30 or 40 years. We need to hear more of those stories.”
The book reading will be at Footscray library on February 5. To book, bit.ly/1BCARjB.
