The crowd at Orange City Council before the Rainbow Festival debate

We spoke to the crowd before the Orange City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 5.

Transcript

00:00 [no audio]

00:17 Awesome. My name's Bon Kyle Hardakanen.

00:20 I'm here today because the fact that we're even having to put this topic to vote makes me very upset.

00:26 My husband and I relocated to Orange three and a half years ago on the promise that it was an inclusive community.

00:34 Most of the community is. I've had great employers. I've developed great friends networks here.

00:41 But the real sad thing is that at the end of the day, there is still homophobia and discrimination in this town.

00:47 Quite a lot, actually. Largely directed from church groups.

00:51 And so I guess I'm here today to make a stand and make a voice heard that most of the community does not accept what is going on

00:59 and that we really hope this festival goes ahead.

01:02 Mutilation from changing from one gender to another. That's child abuse.

01:07 And that's why I think it's important that we protect children, particularly people who are mentally ill.

01:14 Are you worried that that will happen?

01:16 I think this is targeted youth. There's a girl in Melbourne who's having a double mastectomy and she's 15 years of age.

01:24 She's not an adult. So there's a lot of things about mutilation.

01:29 If you know what really goes on, which will be explained tonight, what goes on with surgery between a girl to a male and a male to a woman.

01:39 It's horrendous and it's irreversible. So that's important.

01:46 [Music]

02:09 As someone who grew up in Orange as a young person and had to move away to find inclusivity and acceptance,

02:16 it's deeply disappointing that we're still having to fight for this.

02:19 But I think the support from the community shows that we are winning.

02:24 We've got all the allies and this is going to be overturned, hopefully.

02:30 [Music]

02:40 Awesome. So why are you here today?

02:42 I'm here to show that even the dinosaurs support the LGBTQIA+ community here in Orange and we will be here for Mardi Gras.

02:51 And how do you feel about this decision in Council today?

02:54 Well, from one dinosaur to another, I disapprove of what he's saying.

02:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]