Resisting marginalisation in Regional Australia through LGBTQI+ events

In recent years in Australia, some regional areas have experienced unlikely success in niche events, which achieve wider local community involvement, a phenomenon that has not seen clear parallels in Australia's major cities (Vorobjovas-Pinta & Hardy, 2021). Such success has been observed in particular in regional LGBTQI + events such as Broken Heel Festival in Broken Hill (New South Wales), FABalice in Alice Springs (Northern Territory) and other similar events (Vorobjovas-Pinta & Lewis, 2021). Many such events are perceived as quirky, unusual, or incompatible with the traditional perceptions of a destination. They often challenge the heteronormative, mono-ethnical, and mono-industrial image/brand of a destination.

Marginalisation is often referred to as a 'product of the cultural politics' that plays out differently in the context of locally specific social relations (Hubbard, 1998, p. 56). LGBTQI+ voices remain largely marginalised (Verrelli, White, Harvey & Pulciani, 2019). In regional Australia this is even more pronounced. Marginalised individuals and community groups are often subject to covert and overt discrimination, bullying and animosity. The overall aim of this study was to understand the role regional LGBTQI+ events play to resist marginalisation and exclusion. Specifically, the study was built around the following overarching question: How do regional LGBTQI+ events reduce marginalisation and promote greater social justice?

This study employed the interpretive/constructivist paradigm within a qualitative framework. The nature of this working paper and presentation is exploratory, therefore it required depth of information to comprehend emerging phenomena (Patton, 2002). The study focused on two regional Australian towns hosting LGBTQI+ events – Broken Hill (New South Wales) and Alice Springs (Northern Territory). In order to explore the significance of LGBTQI+ events for regional destinations and to capture the elements of the transformative power of events on communities, and events as destination brands and identities, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (local government, industry associations, event organisers etc.) were conducted.