The progress pride flag was waved high above Newcastle City Hall on Friday in a show of support for an international LGBTQI+ day.
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May 17 is International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHBOT), and Newcastle drag queen Timberlina was on hand at city hall to mark the occasion ahead of a free event, Go Rainbow Your Way, at Newcastle Museum on Friday night.
"On this day in 1990 the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its classification of diseases," Timberlina said.
"So we're here to celebrate that. We have a massive event happening at the museum tonight to celebrate everything queer and just how amazing our community is."
But Timberlina said the LGBTQI+ community was still fighting for its rights today, such as in Sydney where Cumberland council voted to ban same sex parenting books from its library before reversing the decision after community backlash.
"With everything that's happening around Australia with other councils, I think Newcastle City Council is one of the most amazing councils," she said.
"I get to work hand in hand with them for Rainbow Storytime, putting on events for our queer community, and to have the flag flying proudly is amazing. It's like they're standing with us and being among us rather than just saying 'here's our token flag'."
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the council held a number of events through the week, including deputy lord mayor Declan Clausen speaking to council staff about his experiences as a gay man.
"Discrimination is unfortunately still a sad reality for people who are LGBTQI+," Cr Nelmes said.
"Some of the statistics that we talked about were that 68 per cent of Australian LGBTQI+ employees are not out to everyone at work, two in three LGBTQI+ youth experienced abuse due to their identity and 35 per cent of LGBTQI+ Australians have experienced verbal abuse in the last 12 months.
"When you look at some of those statistics, they're very sobering."
The council has raised the pride flag for IDAHOBIT for several years, and Cr Nelmes said it was an important action to foster inclusion in the community.
"We want to make sure that anyone who has felt excluded or like they couldn't be themselves feels welcome in this community," she said.
"Particularly knowing that mental health issues disproportionately affect our LGBTQI+ community I think it's incumbent on all of us to make sure this is a safe city and a welcoming and inclusive city for everyone."
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
