Shamsiya Hussainpoor
The Gaytimes Festival held in Gembrook has received a $32,000 grant through the State Governments LGBTIQA+ Organisational Development Grants program for 2024.
Equality Minister Harriet Shing on Thursday 6 June announced 16 recipients will receive a share of $400,000.
The annual grants program established by the Federal Government in 2016 helps organisations and groups grow their capacity to support LGBTIQA+ communities across Victoria.
Gaytimes is a boutique music, arts, and camping festival for the whole lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and gender diverse community.
The Gaytime festival isn’t just about music, it’s also a weekend getaway of performance art, visual art, light projections, community, self-expression, sexuality, yoga and more.
Equality Minister Harriet Shing said the funding will help marginalised community within the pride community to feel safe and supported.
“We’re supporting LGBTIQA+ organisations and groups with these grants so they can deliver programs that will help to build safe, supportive and inclusive communities for LGBTIQA+ communities across the state,” she said.
“Our continued support for the LGBTIQA+ sector is embedded in Pride in our future, Victoria’s first long-term plan for LGBTIQA+ equality, which is setting the agenda to 2032 to ensure all Victorians are safe, free and equal.”
Close to a third of the projects supported through the grants program this year will be delivered in regional Victoria, with projects ranging from literary festivals to promoting LGBTIQA+ participation in sport and to those telling queer history.
A number of the grant recipients support marginalised LGBTIQA+ communities, including First Nations and multicultural communities, as well as LGBTIQA+ seniors, people with disability and young people.
Gaytimes Festival Director, Anna Whitelaw said the grant is going towards organisational development for Gaytimes to develop a sustainable plan to grow the festival over the next three years.
“A lot of organisations in the rainbow communities are non-profits, or they’re community led, and government support is really essential to allow organisations like ours to be able to invest in our viability moving forward,” she said.
Ms Whitelaw said grants like this are really important across the board, because music and arts festivals are struggling, particularly camping festivals like theirs.
“People are having a hard time dealing with the cost-of-living crisis; a lot of the costs associated with touring artists and staging the festival have increased so much that people can’t afford to pay more for tickets, so people are buying tickets last minute or they’re choosing to volunteer instead of attending the festival, or they’re having to choose between being able to go to things like Gaytimes or Mardi Gras or just be able to continue to survive,” she said.
“We’re always focused on doing more around accessibility as well.”
“One of the things that we want to work on as part of our sustainability planning and our marketing planning, as well as creating more opportunity for people who come from financial disadvantages, from more regional areas, young people and people experiencing things like family violence or homelessness or unemployment, who may have health issues or accessibility issues, to still be able to come and attend the festival.”
Recipients include Our Point 3 Incorporated, which will use their funding to help LGBTIQA+ international students with podcast production and interview training that will enable them to share their stories.
Flat Out will use its funding to further develop and strengthen its work with trans and gender diverse people in the criminal justice system through its program, Beyond Bricks and Bars.
More than 100 LGBTIQA+ organisations have been supported by the Organisational Development Grants Program since 2016, enabling them to grow and develop the services and programs they offer to Victoria’s LGBTIQA+ communities.
The Gaytimes festival for 2025 will be announced in late summer, early autumn.
