Damien Nguyen is 22, out, loud and proud – in every sense.
Nguyen, who uses he/they pronouns, sits on the Mardi Gras board and helps run the activist group Pride in Protest.
They say the process of coming out is gradual – but for them, it’s been three to four years.
Like many young queer Australians, Nguyen is living an open life. Landmark data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released Thursday revealed almost one in 10 young people aged 16 to 24 are LGBTQ+.
But the data shows a huge difference between generations, with 2.9% of Australians aged between 45 and 54 identifying as LGBTQ+, and 1.4% of people 75 and over.
Linda Fardell, the ABS head of health statistics, says more than 900,000 Australians identify as LGBTQ+, or 4.5% of Australians aged 16 and over.
“Younger Australians are more likely to be LGBTI+,” Farrell says.
Adrian Murdoch, the general manager of brand and business development at Minus18, says he doesn’t think there is “just suddenly more and more [of us]”.
“I think we’re just getting a real reflection because people finally feel comfortable to express that.”
Murdoch says the “generational change” has been born from safety and acceptance.
“This increase in LGBTQ+ young people, I liken that to the example of people who are now known and openly left-handed,” he says.
“Many decades ago, it was actually really frowned upon to be left-handed.”
He says the comparison “sounds bizarre” but society has changed to accept LGBTQ+ Australians.
Murdoch says there are more people that the census did not pick up.
“It gives us a reflection of those who have maybe really affirmed that part of their expression. But for many others, it’s a journey that they’re still on.”
Shayne Wilde, a 67-year-old lesbian campaigner, can remember when gay people were sent off for electric shock therapy. She can remember hearing about a boy, roughly her age, who came out to his father, who then stripped him naked and beat him. Mainly she can remember the isolation.
“I never heard the word lesbian or homosexuals,” Wilde says. “When I was 26, I was homosexual. And, you know, from a working-class family, these things weren’t discussed back then.”
Wilde was born in the 50s, at a time when people who were out could lose their jobs, homosexuality was criminalised and there were no pride parties in the streets.
“The difference between the 1900s compared to now is if people found out we were queer then, we’d lose everything – family and friends. Now the young ones can have these things. Make their own families, and live exactly like their siblings.”
Equality Australia CEO Anna Browns ays the statistics show Australia has come a long way but LGBTQ+ Australians still do not have the same rights.
“We can be legally fired from religious schools or denied enrolment and in many states and at a national level there are insufficient protections for LGBTIQ+ people who experience hate,” she says.
“Gay conversion practices remain legal in Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory and, around the country, many infants and children born with variations of their sex characteristics are having unnecessary medical procedures without their consent.
“All Australians deserve equal protections before the law and, until that day comes, queer communities will continue to face disadvantage, discrimination and stigma.”
While Nguyen is now a proud activist, they say it hasn’t been easy – but the visibility and strength of Australia’s broad LGBTQ+ community means it is a lot easier to come out and fight for the rest of the community.
“When you are in a marginalised community, there is this sentiment that we deserve better. And that’s there.”
