Frequently Asked Questions

June is international LGBTIQA+ Pride Month (usually shortened to ‘Pride Month’), dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and asexual pride. 

Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots in America, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969. In the 50+ years since then, Pride Month has come to honour the movement for LGBTIQA+ rights and celebrates LGBTIQA+ cultures. 

In Australia, we have a special connection to June as Pride Month. On June 24, 1978, a small group of Sydney gay and lesbian people, called the Gay Solidarity Group, organised one of the first out and proud day of LGBTIQA+ events in Australia. They wanted to promote gay and lesbian culture and protest against the discrimination they experienced in their daily lives. These folks are referred to as ‘the 78ers” and they are considered important elders of the Australian LGBTIQA+ community. The 78ers are honoured every year by leading the Mardi Gras parade in Sydney.

In a direct link from this pivotal moment in Australian LGBTIQA+ history, we are proud to have one of the 78ers call Ballarat home. 

In modern times, Pride Month is a month to hold events for and about LGBTIQA+ people and their allies, to remember the past, to celebrate the present and to share joy and hope for the future. 

LGBTIQA+ events for the queer community are crucial for self-acceptance, affirmation, connection and celebration. 

LGBTIQA+ people are part of the wider Ballarat community, and they deserve events, celebrations and memorials just like everyone else in the community. 

As a council, we have made the inclusion of LGBTIQA+ people an important part of our inclusion strategies. 

Ballarat is home to the fifth largest LGBTIQA+ population by LGA in Victoria, with just under 10% of our citizens identifying as LGBTIQA+ (in 2017). That means we have over 10,000 LGBTIQA+ folks in and around Ballarat!

Aboriginal people are over-represented in LGBTIQA+ community when compared to mainstream community, and approximately 30 percent of the LGBTIQA+ live with a disability or describe themselves as disabled. LGBTIQA+ people are also part of migrant and refugee communities. This site is designed to help all LGBTIQA+ people across all ages and stages and their allies to connect with each other in a way that helps Council deliver on its intersectional inclusion and diversity commitments and strategic plans.

As part of our LGBTIQA+ Action Plan, we present and support a number of the events during Pride Month and we host and run this website so that locals and tourists are easily able to find out what is happening in Ballarat each June.

The City of Ballarat is proud to support all members of the LGBTIQA+ community and to support Pride Month and events.  

The City of Ballarat’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer/ Questioning, Asexual (LGBTIQA+) Advisory Committee provides feedback and advice to the City of Ballarat on items that impact LGBTIQA+ communities.

This includes advising on communication, engagement and consultation with LGBTIQA+ communities, and identifying ways to continue to build community cohesiveness, inclusivity and pride in Ballarat’s diversity.

The committee consists of people with lived experience, those who work or volunteer with LGBTIQA+ people and those who have expertise in this area.

While we acknowledge that, for some members of the LGBTIQA+ community, 'queer' is regarded as a slur, we also acknowledge that a number of LGBTIQA+ community members have reclaimed the word for themselves. There is documented evidence that people were reclaiming this word as early as the 1960s and 1970s. While we acknowledge that some people might be offended by use of this word, we also acknowledge those who have embraced it. The acronym LGBTIQA+, which is used a all levels of Australian government (local, state and national) as well internationally in western countries, includes Q standing for questioning/queer and so, after consultation with the LGBTIQA+ community and our Advisory Committee, we will continue to use it.

You can learn more about the history and current use of the word 'queer' by Associate Professor Timothy W. Jones, from the History Department of La Trobe University, here: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2023/opinion/the-history-of-the-word-queer

Registration is free for all events. 

Organisations, community groups and individuals are all invited to submit their Pride events to be listed on the website. It costs nothing to submit your event and it allows people to find Pride events they might not have know about otherwise. To register an event for Pride, click here: https://ballaratpride.au/register-your-event 

Please note:  All events submitted must be inclusive. No event can include hate speech or contravene the terms and conditions of the inclusivity policies of the Ballarat council. The council reserves the right to refuse any event for any reason.  

No problem, we have you covered! We have a several guides including how to plan an event and how to create LGBTIQA+ safe events. Click here to learn more: https://ballaratpride.au/how-to-organise-an-event-1 

That is not a problem at all. If you’re looking to keep these kind of details private, and only let your attendees know via email closer to the date these kinds of details, just make a note of this on the registration form. We wont reveal anything you don’t want to make public!  

The Ballarat Pride program is released early May each year. This gives people a month to see what’s on and plan accordingly. 

If you have any further queries, please reach out to the City of Ballarat at pride@ballarat.vic.gov.au