Gold Coast Locals Unite To Save Pride Month Celebrations

A group of Gold Coast locals have today unveiled plans to save the cancelled Pride Month celebrations this June.

The announcement follows the news last month that the group behind the regular Gold Coast Pride Fair Day was no longer operational and had cancelled the Pride Month celebrations.

However this group of locals are determined that celebrations will go ahead bigger and better than before.

Gold Coast Pride Celebrations will continue

In 2021 Gold Coast Pride celebrations first kicked off with their very first rainbow beach walk.

Since then annual celebrations have included the walk and also a thriving Pride Fair Day.

Last year saw over three thousand attendees at the celebrations as locals came together on the Gold Coast.

News that the directors of Gold Coast Rainbow Communities had stepped down devastated locals when they learned that this years celebrations would not go ahead.

But all is not lost.

A group of Gold Coast business owners, event operators and volunteers have come together to unveil a month long celebration of events instead.

“We really wanted to come together just as a group of individuals and show the Gold Coast community and everyone out there that the Gold Coast just has so much to offer” said Steven Fahd one of the group members and owner of Gold Coast LGBTQIA+ venue Hairy Mary’s.

Together the group have come together to produce a calendar that represents a wide range of events for all ages, this includes a launch party, as well as a family rainbow walk, boat party, month long art exhibition, an event for the trans community, a community market stall day, “Fag Tag, “Drag Royale” and a huge celebration, Wunderbar, headlined by Natalie Bassingthwaighte at HOTA (Home Of The Arts) on June 6, plus much more.

Nerida Groth, owner of Goldy’s events, stressed the importance of brining the community together for Pride Month.

“The cancellation of this year’s Gold Coast Pride was a shock to the LGBTQI+ community, and it’s important that we continue to find ways to come together,” she said.

“With Wunderbar falling during World Pride month, we see this as an opportunity for the entire community to unite in celebration and solidarity. Wunderbar isn’t just about showcasing incredible talent—it’s about creating a space for connection, pride, and joy.”

Rebecca Bateman, known to many as DJ Beksis is organising Trans Central on June 21, something she is passionate about especially in the current climate.

“Trans visibility is vitally important now more than ever” she says.

“We want to ensure that our trans community are included and valued as part of our celebrations and know they have a safe and inclusive venue to celebrate. I’m really excited to be launching the June event for Trans central and can’t wait for people to come along and see this incredible all trans lineup of entertainers we have to offer.”

Dustin Lowrey is organising the rainbow walk, which kicks off in Labrador June 1 as a family friendly event for the community.  “With the cancellation of other Pride events I thought it was important, especially for the local Labrador community, to have a rainbow family event” he said.

“The walk part is only slightly symbolic, the other half of me loves that it’s an active and fit community event and mingle. Whether you identify as queer, queer adjacent or just an ally let’s come out adorned in rainbow and show our pride and celebrate visibility.”

 

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Bringing the community together

It’s a unique approach for a group of business owners and operators to have, while many business might work against each other in direct competition, this group are actively working together to promote each other’s events, in a show of solidarity for the community.

Steven Fahd is hosting the calendar of events on his website for Hairy Mary’s, inviting other LGBTQIA+ events to join in and advertise their events on the calendar as a central point of information.

“A few people asked me why I would be advertising other people’s events at other venues on our website?” he said.

“But this is much more than one business thriving over another. We all want to see each other succeed, but most importantly, we want to see the Gold Coast LGBTQIA+ community benefit from everything we all have to offer. So we are inviting any LGBTQIA+ events running for Pride month to reach out to be included to make this the biggest celebration of Pride yet.”

As June approaches the group are still looking for more events to be added to the calendar and encourage anyone to submit their events to be added.

The full calendar of events can be found at www.hairymarys.com.au/pridemonth

Anyone wish to submit their event can send the details to steven@hairymarys.com.au

The Gold Coast Pride Month celebrations kick of on the May 31 with the Popperz LuLu Rooftop part and end on Sunday June 29 with the Market Day at Hairy Mary’s.

Everyone is invited to dress in their fabulous best and head long to enjoy as many of the vibrant events on offer as they can this June.