Natalie O’Driscoll can’t help but feel lonely as she wanders past glittering skyscrapers and nightclubs with thumping music.
The Gold Coast, Australia’s sixth-largest area and one of the nation’s fastest-growing parts, is where the LGBTQ+ person resides.
There are people everywhere – more than 640,000 of them. It is known for its vibrant and lively society.
But Ms. O’Driscoll can’t seem to find her people.
“There are just so few gay people in Brisbane,” she says, “because I’m dating and using an app for girls, and essentially everyone I connect with is from Brisbane.”
Ms. O’Driscoll wishes there were more queer-friendly spaces on the Gold Coast.
The 45-year-old has attempted to expand the area variety on the app, but she would like to meet a potential partner or gay friend in person.
She claims that there aren’t many LGBTQI+ organizations and events on the Gold Coast.
“We’re only really behind other big places,” Ms. O’Driscoll says.
“The Gold Coast is pretty conservative, compared to other smaller towns out there that have a larger gay scene than we do,” she said.
“It’s truly unhappy, it’s isolating, and it makes you feel like the other, more than you would in a bigger area where you have more choices.”
The Transgender group’s presence in the city was promoted by the creation of the Gold Coast Pride event. (Supplied: Danni Zuvela)Under the detector?
Like Ms. O’Driscoll, Danni Zuvela moved to the Gold Coast for its sunshine and sand.
She claimed to have watched as gay community people “tried to conceal” their sexuality in public.
One of the reasons Ms. Zuvela co-founded the Gold Coast’s yearly Pride event four years ago was because of this.
“A lot of us are single, most of us don’t have partners or families that support us,” she said.
“But having a location you can go to on your own, it’s very important.”
The gay area on the Gold Coast is made more visible by the Pride parade. (Supplied: Gold Coast Pride)When most people have the chance to confront someone they once thought they would detest, they frequently change their minds, said Ms. Zuvela.
The Gold Coast has promoted itself as a world city and held occasions like the Commonwealth Games.
However, Ms. Zuvela claimed gay people regularly reported homophobic incidents to her.
“I’ve noticed that most of us fly a bit more under the radar around,” she said.
In the last five years, the Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) has received 230 complaints of discrimination or vilification based on a person’s sexuality.
Only a small number of them were from Brisbane, and the majority were from the Gold Coast.
However, the QHRC cautioned against using proper problem numbers as a definitive indicator of homophobia’s prevalence on the ground.
Because victims of rape or abuse hardly ever knew the perpetrator’s identity, it was claimed.
Actually felt the absence, really?
During her early years in Sydney, Nerida Groth was ensnared by the vibrant gay culture and community.
After moving to the Gold Coast, she said, “I actually felt the lack of that up here,” and it was a great experience growing up in that environment.
Ms. Groth has called the Gold Coast home since 2018 and last year she created Goldy’s, a pop-up gay dance featuring local LGBTQI+ musicians and singers.
“We’re never born into this society,” she said.
“It’s something we experience later in life, and it’s crucial that we seek out that community when we are in need.”
Ms. O’Driscoll hopes that her adopted hometown may become a hub for new friendships and connections with Goldy’s and the Pride celebration.
Goldy’s provides a platform for the state’s gay designers. (Supplied: Goldy’s)“Being gay usually comes with a entire traumatic background of rejection, disowning and feeling alienated,” she said.
To finally relocate somewhere that affirms that through the shortage of community may be very depressing.
ABCQueer
A regular newsletter featuring true people’s experience of being queer and stories about LGBTQIA+ people and their allies.
