November 1, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier
The Victorian Government has doled out $220,000 in grants for Pride events which celebrate and bring together the state’s LGBTIQ+ communities.
Of the 32 events funded, half are taking place in regional and rural communities.
Regional events will be staged in places like Ballarat, Echuca, Wangaratta, Shepparton and Gippsland and include a Pride roller derby, a Pride picnic and arts and youth events.
In Melbourne, grants will support information sessions for older members of the LGBTIQ+ community who are struggling with homeless as well as the participation of those with blindness and low vision in the Midsumma Pride March in February.
The Middsumma Pride March, along with several other larger-scale events, including the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, the GLOBE Awards and All the Queen’s Men’s Rainbow Families Dance Club, is receiving additional financial support from the Pride Events and Festivals Fund, to stage its event this summer. Altogether, larger events are benefiting from $425,000 of funding this year.
“We’re so proud to announce funding for this fabulous group of events which will celebrate pride, inclusivity and equality,” said Victoria’s minister for equality Harriet Shing.
“It’s particularly fantastic to see the high number of regional events which will be taking place, providing important opportunities for our rural and regional rainbow communities to come together.”
