Mr Mckellar experienced name-calling, hatred, and extreme fear that coming out would isolate him from his family, friends, and his close-knit community. 'Growing up here was a bit difficult in coming out that I was gay, but today it's a different lifestyle,' Mr Mckellar said. 'I didn't think the acceptance would happen as it did'įor 36-year-old Phillip Mckellar, a local gay Aboriginal man from the Budjiti people in Cunnamulla, the outback has come a long way since he came out at 17. Nearly 800 kilometres west of Brisbane, Cunnamulla sits squarely in the federal electorate of Maranoa, where 56.1 per cent voted 'no' in the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite.īut, as elaborate dresses are chosen, and long eyelashes, delicate nails and makeup applied, Cunnamulla says it's time to celebrate and embrace the LGBTQIA+ community of outback Queensland. This place set the Dallas standard, in 1998, for the concept of an Irish pub that knows its beer and serves elevated bar food (at what have to be the best prices in town: warm goat. The small town of Cunnamulla, with a population of just over 1,000 people, is a long way from Queensland's capital, and its dazzling nightlife and gay bars. In a tiny outback town, locals have brushed off the red dust in favour of glitter for their first-ever Mardi Gras ball.
