Celebrating diversity in Brisbane

On the same night as awful events were occurring halfway around the world, in Brisbane we celebrated with Queen’s Ball, one of the oldest celebrations for LGBTI people in the world.

 With Wil Alam, Lia Volpe and Emile McPhee after LGBTI Legal Service won its award.

Alas, I was not awarded with Activist of the Year this year. The Activist of the Year instead was the very worthy Emile McPhee. Emile works for the large law firm McCullagh Robertson and in his spare time is the co-ordinator of the still unfunded LGBTI Legal Service. Talk about a well deserved award!

I was delighted also that LGBTI Legal Service was awarded community organisation of the year. I put my all in at the inception of that service to get other lawyers to volunteer along with me. It is such a great organisation, and truly deserved its award.

The other significant community awardees were:

• Ally of the Year- the ever going Shelley Argent from PFLAG
• Young Person of the Year- law student Ben English from QUT
• Lifetime achievement award- to Bill Rutkin, who has been activist in this space for as longas I can recall- which is a LONG time!

Congratulations to all who received awards, and those who were nominated. It is poignant to reflect and see what Brisbane celebrated turned into grief on the other side of the world.