Casey Rainbow Community
Ms RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (09:50): Casey Rainbow Community is an emerging group for LGBTIQ+ people in the City of Casey and surrounds. After only 12 months of operation, the group has made a significant connection into the community, establishing a much-needed voice for LGBTIQ+ community inclusion in the City of Casey. Notably the group provided input into the state government’s LGBTIQ+ strategy consultation, advocated for council to raise the rainbow flag for the first time on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia 2020 and is planning multiple community events in 2021. I would particularly like to acknowledge Nick Grant-Collins for his passion and commitment to seeing the LGBTIQ+ community thrive in Cranbourne. Casey Rainbow is one of the many active and passionate LGBTIQ+ groups in Cranbourne, and I was delighted to see how many groups were at Pride last year. Yet again it proves Cranbourne to be one of the most diverse and engaged communities in Victoria, and that makes me particularly proud this week of all weeks.
I also welcome the conversations I have been having with local community groups, and I want to thank Reverend Ray McCluskey from the Cranbourne Regional Uniting Church for his steadfast support for the LGBTIQ+ community in Cranbourne. Reverend Ray is always on hand whenever there is a problem of any sort in the community, but I would especially like to thank him for the way he stepped forward at the time of the birth certificate reform legislation and provided pastoral care to people in the community who needed it most. Over the last couple of days I have been speaking to Acceptance Melbourne LGBTIQ+ Catholics and Australian Catholics for Equality. I want to thank them for their tenacity and hard work when it comes to advocating on important issues.