Gympie celebrates its first Pride Festival thanks to a fearless teen

A teenager has stood up to make Gympie’s first pride festival happen, backed by a support base ready to show LGBTQI+ youth in the region they are seen, supported and can have fun.

Cindy Vogels, Emily Smith and Anna Brennan at the first Gympie Pride Festival event of 2023 for Stand Up Comedy Nikki Osbourne and Friends. Picture: Christine Schindler

A teenager inspired by the negative backlash from a Gympie drag show in April 2023 has taken on the charge of bringing more visibility, awareness and show of support to the region’s LGBTQI+ community.

Seventeen-year-old Emily Smith started asking why Gympie had no Pride Festival after she attended two back-to-back pride festivals in Melbourne.

She decided it was time for Gympie to show some support during Pride Month (June), especially after a Drag Tag Comedy Show for Gympie’s Youth Week in April drew protesters, and online and offline abuse at the performers and attendees.

Starlet to star: Shadbolt releases third album

Justin O' Mara, McKenzie Knickel and Lulu LeMans at the Drag Tag Comedy Show as part of Gympie Youth Week in April, 2023. Mr O'Mara (left) said the show was the best night he ever had in town. Ms Knickel said it was great the community was brought together for some harmless fun. Picture: Anna Brennan

“We wanted to bring Pride into Gympie and just have fun to celebrate Pride Month, because there isn’t really anything here,” Ms Smith said.

“It’s also a response to the the backlash that happened at the drag tag.

“We were completely shocked by that and we were like, ‘Well, we’re gonna give them something to complain about’.”

She started planning, meeting with Mayor Glen Hartwig and the Gympie Chamber of Commerce to figure out how she could make it happen.

Emily Smith is the fearless teen behind Gympie’s first Pride Festival. Picture: (supplied)

Ms Smith pushed for it to happen this year, despite suggestions for next year, and when comedian Anna Brennan and event producer Cindy Vogels caught wind of what she was up to, they jumped on board to help make it happen.

“A bunch of us who have been working in the arts in Gympie for a long time just banded together around her like a sea of lemming monkies or muppet puppets to do anything and everything that she needs to get it off the ground,” Ms Brennan said.

“We were gobsmacked that this solo 17-year-old had been progressing down this road alone, completely determined to hold a Pride Festival,” Ms Vogels said.

“Our goal was to activate three to five events and we have way more than that, we just keep adding events,” Ms Vogels said.

Ms Vogels said she knew how young people in Gympie struggle with coming out, mostly because the representation was just not there.

Cindy Vogels is a prolific designer and arts producer based in Gympie and has thrown her support behind Emily Smith for Pride Month.

This will be the first Gympie Pride Festival, an overdue chance to show Gympie’s queer youth representation and support is here.

“I had a bunch of kids who were queer messaging me and literally going out of their way to thank me for putting the (Drag Tag) event on because it was the first time they said they’d seen themselves represented at a live event in Gympie,” said Ms Brennan, who organised the Drag Tag show.

“Kids need to see it gets easier, it doesn’t have to be this horrible, scary space all the time.

“There is a safety net of people here who are willing to go above, beyond, and out of their way to help you feel safe and included and seen,” she said.

Bruce Hwy (Anna Brennan) hosted a stand-up show at the Gympie RSL as part of Gympie’s Pride Festival 2023. Picture: Christine Schindler

“Just because people are going to protest about this doesn’t mean it’s just going to go away,” Ms Smith said.

“We’re still always going to be there, even if we’re not visibly having events.”

The Gympie Pride Festival kicked off on Saturday, June 3, at the Gympie RSL, headlined by stand-up comic Nikki Osborne aka The Bush Blonde.

The evening came with a mature content warning as most of the jokes were “parent” material, like unspoken realities around raising children, dealing with teenagers, and navigating married and long-term relationship life.

Pride Festival continues throughout June, with events popping up all over Gympie.

Find out more by following the Gympie Pride Festival Facebook page.

Gympie Pride Month Festival Program