ByteVibes

ON FIRST glance it seems like any other historic Australian country town.

The roads are wide and lined with trees; a grand post office, topped with a turret, stands at one end of the main street; a turn of the century pub with a wide balcony shading the footpath below, at the other.

But look closely and you may spy something different about Daylesford, located an hour and half north of Melbourne.

Many buildings sport not just Australian flags, but rainbow ones too. That kid holding hands with his parents could well have two mums.

Mardi Gras celebrations might be taking over Sydney this weekend but in Daylesford it can feel like Mardi Gras all year round. Indeed, next week it will hold Chill Out, its own LGBTI festival that’s been going for two decades.

“It’s been gay here for a long time,” Merryn Tinkler, who lives in nearby Hepburn, told news.com.au. “At times it seems every second person is gay and that’s why we love it so much here.”

The town of 2500, at the foot of the Great Dividing Range, is one of the increasing number of regional towns and outer suburbs LGBTI Australians are calling home.

Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) census data has revealed that LGBTI people, who used to commonly pack together for safety and community in inner city enclaves, are on the move.

The passing of same-sex marriage laws and an increasing acceptance of gay people has spurred the migration.

According to the ABS, Daylesford has now jumped into the top flight of gayest places in Australia, according to the number of same-sex couples counted in the 2016 census.

In NSW, the Blue Mountains, Coffs Harbour, Broken Hill and Lismore also have healthy LGBTI populations.

The Bureau estimated there are now some 46,800 same-sex couples living together in Australia, up 39 per cent on the previous census. Since the ABS first started measuring same-sex couples in 1996, the number has quadrupled.

As the ABS doesn’t ask people to define their sexuality, the numbers of gay people in total will be far higher.

“The increase in the reported numbers of same-sex couples may in part reflect greater willingness by people to identify them as being in a same-sex relationship and an improvement over the last 20 years in the rights of same-sex couples,” the ABS stated.

Proportionally, the ACT has the highest frequency of gay couples while South Australia and Western Australia have the least.

It will come as little surprise that the inner Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst, home of the Mardi Gras, is the gayest place in Australia with almost one-in-five couples of the same-sex variety.

In fact, all 10 of the Australian suburbs most preferred by gay men, places like Kings Cross and Newtown, make a continuous strip surrounding the city’s CBD. An arc which has been dubbed the “rainbow ribbon” or even the “Great Gay Wall of Sydney”.

Lesbians, too, like Sydney. But they have ventured further with Mayfield East in Newcastle, the Adelaide suburb of Ethelton and, of course, Daylesford in the top 10.

“Female same-sex couples tended to be more geographically dispersed and less concentrated than male same-sex couples,” according to the ABS.

Part of the reason why gay women are more dispersed than men is put down to having the space to have kids. Indeed, Ms Tinkler raised a son in Melbourne’s outer suburbs before heading to the area 18 months ago.

“That Daylesford is in the top 10 is astounding for such a small town but it doesn’t surprise me. You can see it when you walk down the street that you’re not the only gay in the village,” she said.

Ms Tinkler put Daylesford’s popularity down to several factors including a welcoming straight community and that the town has long been a tourist magnet.

“Gay people are a pretty sophisticated bunch, they like good coffee and food and then there’s the beautiful environment that draws people in,” she said.

The town’s relative proximity to Melbourne also means people can pop into the city easily.

Nevertheless, it’s not always a bubble of relaxed acceptance: “Last year we had a couple of people move to the neighbourhood with ‘Kill F**s’ on T-shirts. Needless to say, those ring-ins didn’t last long,” Ms Tinkler said.

The increasing diaspora of gay people does create issues, however. NSW based LGBTI health organisation ACON, which provides counselling and sexual health services, has had to expand beyond inner Sydney along with its clientele.

“We are seeing vibrant regional and rural growth for our LGBTI communities which is wonderful however, there remains challenges of isolation and service access,” Nick Parkhill, the Chief Executive of ACON told news.com.au.

The organisation partners with local health services in regional areas so they are up to speed with the needs of LGBTI locals. It now offers counselling via Skype.

“ACON recognises ongoing work needs to be done in achieving greater inclusion and improving service delivery and access outside of metropolitan areas,” Mr Parkhill said.

Back in Daylesford, Ms Tinkler, who is the head honcho at the upcoming Chill Out festival, said it was easily the town’s biggest annual event.

“It was started 21 years ago by a local bunch precisely as a chill out after Sydney Mardi Gras,” she said.

There’s a carnival, a champagne bar, even a parade through the town.

“But it’s different to Mardi Gras because we love to reinforce our country-news and connection to the land so our carnival is held in an agricultural park and we have a bush dance,” Ms Tinkler said. “There are plenty of cowboy hats and flannelette shirts.”

Unlike your average bush dance, however, in Daylesford the cowboys will be spinning one another around the dancefloor.

benedict.brook@news.com.au

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