Magda Szubanski tears up about marriage equality

COMEDIAN Magda Szubanski has opened up about her feelings on marriage equality in an emotional interview on ABC TV with Anh Do.

Szubanski has been campaigning for marriage equality since she came out in 2012, which she described as “incredibly liberating”.

She spoke about her battle with depression related to her sexuality when she was growing up.

“Even now, I have heart palpitations, seriously, when I think about it,” she said.

“I just felt nothing but disgust and shame for myself.”

Szubanski said she knew she was gay from an early age, but there was more stigma in those days.

“People forget now, because things are so much better than they were, just how awful it was, you know, for people who were gay back then,” she said.

“It was diagnosed as a mental illness, it was illegal and it was conflated with pedophilia, so it was the most shameful thing you could be.”

The comedian tearfully spoke about the importance of marriage equality.

“In a country like this, where it would cost us nothing… we still don’t have marriage equality,” she said.

Szubanski said her concern is for the next generation of queer people.

“I’m not crying my tears for myself. I mean, in a sense, a bit. But I think about young people now,” she said.