Drag Vilification Appeal Win, Oscars LGBTQIA+ Wins, Throb Nightclub Demolished, SA Pride Awards | Rainbow Briefing — Daily LGBTQIA+ News Podcast Australia

Hi, I’m Louise Poole, and this is the Rainbow Briefing for Tuesday the 17th of March. Your daily LGBTQIA+ news catchup.

Recorded and produced on Yugambeh and Yuggera land.

In today’s Rainbow Briefing — a major win for two drag performers in their years-long vilification fight in Queensland, the Oscars play off a queer songwriter mid-speech, and Melbourne goes full Heated Rivalry fandom.

Two Brisbane drag performers have won a major appeal in their vilification case against Family First National Director Lyle Shelton.

Johnny Valkyrie and Dwayne Hill — who perform as Queeny and Diamond — took action after Shelton published a series of blog posts calling them dangerous role models for children, and comparing them to convicted sex offenders Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein.

The posts were sparked by a 2020 Drag Queen Story Time event where performers read a children’s book, sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and supervised a craft activity where kids drew their families.

The original complaint was dismissed in 2023, but the performers appealed.

Last week, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Appeal Tribunal found the earlier decision was fundamentally flawed, with significant legal and factual errors. Those errors included the idea that transphobic and homophobic attitudes only live in the past.

The Tribunal also recognised that drag is a vital and central part of queer culture, and a predominantly queer art form.

Valkyrie says the original ruling was out of touch with the experiences of queer Australians.

The matter isn’t over yet. The parties will make further submissions in the coming months before a new decision is handed down.

At yesterday’s Oscars, gay songwriter Mark Sonnenblick was among the team behind the song Golden — from the animated film KPop Demon Hunters — when it won Best Original Song.

It was a historic win. It’s the first time anyone of Korean descent has won in either the animated feature or original song categories in the Oscars’ 98-year history.

But the moment was overshadowed when ceremony organisers played the music over the team before they’d all had a chance to speak.

Sonnenblick was visibly frustrated, jumping and waving his hands trying to get them to stop. He later finished his speech in the press room, thanking his husband Isaac.

There were other queer wins at the ceremony.

Mr Nobody Against Putin won Best Documentary. It follows a gay man working as a videographer at a Russian primary school, documenting how children are indoctrinated to support the invasion of Ukraine.

And short film Two People Exchanging Saliva tied for Best Live Action Short. Filmmaker Natalie Musteata thanked the Academy for supporting a film she described as weird and queer and made by a majority of women.

Beyond those moments, LGBTQIA+ representation was largely absent from this year’s nominees and winners.

And one nomination tells a bigger story about why. Pixar’s Elio was up for Best Animated Feature — it lost to KPop Demon Hunters. But its chief creative officer Pete Docter recently defended removing LGBTQIA+ storylines from the film, telling the Wall Street Journal — we’re making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy.

The deleted scenes reportedly included the lead character imagining raising a child with his male crush. They were cut after test screenings.

It wasn’t the first time. Pixar faced similar claims around the removal of a trans character from Win or Lose. A letter signed by LGBTQIA+ Pixar employees in 2022 described nearly every moment of overtly gay affection being cut at Disney’s direction.

Elio went on to become Pixar’s worst-ever box office result.

In Darwin, the building that was home to the city’s only LGBTQIA+ nightclub has been demolished.

Throb Nightclub opened in 2000, founded by Tim Palmer and his business partners as a safe and inclusive space for Darwin’s queer community.

For more than two decades, it was the only dedicated LGBTQIA+ venue in the city. It celebrated its 20th birthday in 2020 and kept the doors open right through the pandemic.

But in late 2023, the building was condemned due to structural issues and water damage. Palmer confirmed the club’s closure the following year.

Demolition began in late January.

Palmer and his colleagues said they absolutely loved giving Darwin a safe space way back in 2000 when the community needed it.

I lived in Darwin for a few years, and Throb was an important part of the city’s queer culture. It’s sad to imagine it gone.

If you needed proof that Heated Rivalry has taken over queer Australia — here it is.

Heated Rivalry is the hit TV series based on Rachel Reid’s romance novels about two rival hockey players who fall for each other.

On Saturday night in Melbourne, fans packed out Yah Yah’s for a full-blown look-alike competition, organised by Australian TikToker Lena Tuck.

It follows a similar event held in Sydney last month.

Contestants competed in categories including best Shane Hollander cottage impression and a Like a Prayer dance-off.

There were considerably more Shane look-alikes than Ilyas — and even a fantastic turn from someone channelling the show’s villain Svetlana Vetrova.

The crowd went absolutely wild for a re-enactment of the season finale phone call scene.

Two cities down. Who’s next?

And finally — Pride Adelaide has opened public voting for this year’s South Australian Pride Awards.

The awards recognise LGBTQIA+ trailblazers, changemakers, quiet achievers and community champions across South Australia.

There are categories for everything from community group of the year and employer of the year, to performer of the year and volunteer of the year.

Community voting is open now and will help determine the finalists before an independent panel review.

Winners will be announced at the South Australian Pride Gala on Saturday June the 6th at SkyCity Adelaide.

On the gala night, the late community leader, artist and advocate Eric Kuhlmann, and lifelong community advocate Pam Price, will be inducted into the SA Pride Hall of Fame.

You’ll find the voting link at Pride Adelaide’s website.

That’s the Rainbow Briefing for Tuesday the 17th of March.

I’m Louise Poole and this is independent queer community media. Your support is crucial to its success. Share the bulletin, tell your community, leave us a review, and find us on socials. And if you’ve got community news to share, submit a story at rainbowbriefing.com.au.