Wednesday, 8 February 2023

Ministers statements: LGBTIQ+ equality

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Water, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Minister for Equality) (12:20): It is Pride Month, and as the Minister for Equality it is an important opportunity for me to talk about the work that has been undertaken by Victorian communities to come together to recognise LGBTIQ+ communities. These communities comprise our friends, our family members, our workmates – those who we love and who love us in return – and Sunday was an extraordinary opportunity for people to come together at the Pride March to demonstrate solidarity with and support for LGBTIQ+ people. The young and the old gathered in St Kilda for a beautiful expression of colour, of celebration, of storytelling and indeed of a determination to continue the mood for change, which has gathered pace in Victoria in particular over the last eight years.

This is work that we are determined to continue. This is work which is informed by more than $22 million in an election commitment, which will deliver grants funding, organisational and event funding, opportunities for LGBTIQ+ leadership program participation and pride in ageing – again an opportunity for older LGBTIQ+ people in Victoria to retain the dignity, the autonomy and the identities that are too often hidden or indeed suppressed in older age. We need to make sure that visibility is not just a thing to celebrate in and of itself but a touchstone to connection, to participation and to funding for better services and programs. What better way to do that than with a record turnout not just from these benches here in the upper house but from the government benches in the other place. I look forward to seeing that the voting record of those who turned up from other benches will be matched by their determination to march at Pride.