Not ‘the only gay in the village’: Hay rolls out welcome mat for rainbow community

Jeffrey Pu at Hay’s Rainbow on the Plains festival. He says he was hesitant when he was posted to the country town but made friends immediately. Photograph: Fleur Connick/The Guardian

When Jeffrey Pu found out he was being sent to Hay in November last year for work, he was “definitely hesitant” about how the country town was going to react to his sexuality.

“In Sydney there are so many people that having a gay identity, it doesn’t matter as much,” he says. “But out here, you’re so isolated.”