Echuca resident Chloe Schulinga knows the importance of recognising International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia.
She spoke of her horrifying experiences as part of a community event hosted by Campaspe Shire Council and Echuca Moama Pride at Hopwood Gardens in Echuca to celebrate IDAHOBIT on Friday, May 17.
“When my partner and I decided to visit a local venue ... we were targeted, overpowered and escorted out of the venue really aggressively for reasons that we still can’t understand,” she told the crowd.
“During this night, we had homophobic remarks, slurs and death threats shouted at us numerous times from members of the community.”
The horrific evening that Chloe experienced was soon after she came out publicly and opened her eyes to the discrimination she might face as a gay woman.
“These two separate incidents happening in the space of a couple of hours shocked me as I had never experienced this kind of discrimination and I never would’ve expected this from such a beautiful, loving community and town,” she said.
“I realised that people are afraid of what they don’t know. From being on the outside looking in to actually being on the receiving end of discrimination, I saw that a lot of the world is still afraid and closed off.”
IDAHOBIT, held on May 17 each year, marks the date that the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.
It’s a day that Echuca Moama Pride’s secretary Owen Egan said was important to mark.
“This day for me is probably more important than Mardi Gras, just because it’s all about exposure and people still knowing that bigotry still exists,” he said.
“It has been amazing to have the support of both Campaspe Shire and Murray River Council. They also help us with other things behind the scenes, but this is an event they put on for us, so we can’t forget that.”
Campapse Shire Council Mayor Rob Amos said it was critical to hear stories like the one that Chloe shared during her speech.
“It’s amazing to have these days and it’s important to celebrate them to help the community become more tolerant,” he said.
“It was really sad to hear Chloe’s story about what she and her partner experienced on their night out when she first came out as openly gay. It’s a terrible discrimination that they endured that night and just not acceptable.”
Cr Amos said Campaspe Shire Council was an inclusive place to work.
“I know Campaspe Shire works very hard at this and we will accept anyone who should come and work with us,” he said.
“It only enriches Campaspe Shire when we have people from different parts of the community come work with us because we get different points of view.”
As part of recognising IDAHOBIT, Campaspe Shire Council lit up the council building in rainbow colours on Thursday and Friday nights.