Next weekend the south-west Victorian town of Colac will be celebrating its first pride event.
The event is being organised by locals Kristen Turley and her partner Holly Kercheval, who were inspired to act when they noticed a growing queer presence in the town after years of feeling like they were the "only gays in the village".
"We started noticing … there were other people presenting in the community and identifying and we thought we really need to connect together and let them know we're here," Ms Kercheval said.
The event next Saturday at a local cafe will have live music, DIY make-up stations, badge-making, Colac Headspace personnel, and free LGBT-branded merchandise.
Ms Turley said it would be "heartwarming to see locals come out to support the community after feeling really quite isolated for many years with our sexual identity in this area".
Colac's spotty history
Comedian Joel Creasey has publicly discussed his history with the town where he was heckled with anti-gay remarks during a stand-up set in his first visit in 2011 and when he was chased to his car by teenagers at a second visit later that year.
He returned to Colac for a third time with an ABC camera crew for the largely positive documentary Gaycrashers but later in 2018 told the Binge List podcast it was not all as it seemed.
"We had people yelling at us 24/7, so Colac is a very homophobic place," he said.
Colac Otway Shire councillor Tosh-Jake Finnigan said that although the comments made by Mr Creasey were accurate at the time, their position as the first trans-elected official in the area showed how a change of heart had occurred.
Current mayor Chris Potter said Mr Creasey's comments were a long time ago and the town had come a long way.
"Sure, I haven't been there in three years, but I don't know how much can change in that time," Mr Creasey said during the 2018 podcast.
Although the Colac Otway councillors will vote on whether or not to raise a rainbow flag in recognition of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Lesbophobia and Transphobia next Wednesday, the Colac Otway Shire still remains only one of 11 municipalities that has not in the past.
Need for rainbow connection
In the state's east, Gippsland Pride Initiative president Caitlin Grigsby said public events, and ongoing advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community, were important.
The group recently held its first public event which attracted 2,500 people to the town of Traralgon and featured stalls, a barbecue, drag performers, and an inclusive family atmosphere.
Ms Grigsby said pride events were important for LGBTQIA+ people in regional areas who may have been alienated from their families or have no safe places in their areas to connect with others.
"It needs to be normalised so we don't need big rainbow bombs on Gippsland," Ms Grigsby said, referring to an invisible pain that is often hidden behind the glitter and glamour of the community when they are forced to always explain their life as an LGBT person.
"We need to have these activities regularly. We must be visible and we must be active or else nothing changes."
The modern pride movement
Melbourne-based drag performers Frock Hudson and Freddy Merkin, who frequently perform in regional areas, were in Traralgon for the event.
"One day we can only hope that we live in a society where the way you want to identify is completely up to you," Merkin said.
They said the pride movement had evolved to become more about self-expression and inclusivity in general.
"I don't think people realise just how limiting it can be for people in regional areas who don't have spaces where they can be themselves in a shared space," Hudson said.
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