While originating in the US, June has been increasingly recognised across the world as Pride Month - a commemoration of the impacts LGBTQIA+ individuals have made throughout history, and a celebration of a community that continues to thrive amidst ongoing adversity, discrimination and systemic shame. While we continue to strive towards a future of level playing fields for artists, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, we would like to take this opportunity to honour the impacts of Australian artists whose work has connected and resonated with countless lives.

Here is merely a snapshot of some of the exceptional artists of this country who have amplified the presence of queer visibility, storytelling, advocacy and pride in the Australian music space, and beyond.

G Flip

There are few artists in the world blazing a trail quite like G Flip, leaving nothing implied with their kickstart track to 2022, GAY 4 ME, featuring US artist Lauren Sanderson (as well as Sanderson’s hit-studded catalogue, make sure to also check out her powerful Ted Talk). Since the start of their career back in 2018 with their hit debut single About You, G Flip has always remained unwaveringly unapologetic and fearlessly vulnerable in their lyricism. The formidable drum god has drawn a devoted following in Australia, and is now stretching their wings further afield, setting up new roots in LA and sharing their talents across America, recently touring with pop powerhouse FLETCHER. 

Since coming out as non-binary in 2021, G Flip has persisted in carving a path for queer and gender-diverse representation. Now, louder than ever, G Flip continues to champion queer visibility and self-love, creating a community across the world fueled by the encouragement and empowerment to proudly express their authentic selves. In an interview earlier this year with NME, G Flip reflected: “I wish I had a non-binary, gay, lead-singing drummer to watch; it would’ve calmed the dark, confused voices in my head that told me I didn’t belong anywhere as my authentic self. If I am able to silence those voices for someone else, my job on this planet is done.”

Nick Ward

Sydney-hailing Nick Ward is not only a phenomenally talented artist and producer - he is a true multidisciplinary creator who shapes his projects with a stunning eye, and ear, for detail. Across the 21-year-old’s immersive catalogue, Ward’s fans are invited through an intimate window of his life, told also through a series of self-directed and edited music videos. 

Nick Ward’s 2021 debut EP Everything I Wish I Told You marked the first installment of an EP trilogy, featuring fan favourites like Holding the Man and the anthemic I Wanna Be Myself Or Nothing At All. Birthing a mantra of courage and authenticity, I Wanna Be Myself Or Nothing At All shares a raw snippet of Ward’s deeply resonating coming out story:

Remember in the days when I wished I was straight and / I wished I was like the people that I hate / And kept my thoughts a secret I almost thought I'd keep it / going through school where closet kids get eaten

His latest release BRAND NEW YOU, the second EP of the series, is yet another masterful milestone in Ward’s career, navigating an achingly profound journey of grief, love and growth. The opening track, ALIEN, speaks to a widespread experience, shared within and outside the queer community, of the search for belonging between binary spaces of acceptance. The concrete edges of "gay world", and the "straight world", and discovering comfort in the "in-betweens".

Siala

While you might have first met Siala in 2020 on The Voice Australia, the rising rapper has emerged into her own extraordinary style and sound this year as a massive artist to watch, recently releasing her impressive debut EP Drowned Surface. 

Through her potent and raw lyricism, Siala has stepped forth as another powerful figure changing the game in hip hop, carving out a greater space for queerness and setting a standard of normality within a genre whose historical roots have grown entangled in misogyny and homophobia. Siala has also taken advantage of her music and her platform to promote awareness and empathy surrounding issues such as female homelessness and domestic violence.

Aside from her music career, Siala has also acted as a brand ambassador as the proud face of a clothing campaign to empower young masculine-presenting queer women and gender non-conforming people to express their identity with confidence and self-love.

Peach PRC

While Peach PRC has always been open about her queer identity, the pop prodigy and belovedly candid TikTok personality came out as a lesbian on social media in January this year and has since let her pride brighter than ever.

Her latest single God Is A Freak, which she leaked on TikTok prior to coming out, has resonated with followers across the world for its frank discussions of Christian church-related discrimination. Following its release, the track inspired a trend of TikTok videos incorporating the audio where a number of LGBTQIA+ fans took to the platform to share their own experiences with religious shame. In an interview with Billboard, Peach PRC commented on the video trend, saying that: “It was meant to be this silly song making fun of the ridiculous concept that it is to me. But to see so many people share these vulnerable stories, talk about their religious trauma and the way they’ve overcome — that has been so moving. There was one video that made me cry the other day… someone talked about being rejected for being trans, and how they sold their purity ring to pay for testosterone. It was so powerful.”

Peter Allen

Growing up gay in ‘50s regional NSW would have never been easy - especially so for a tap-dancing, piano-rocking, song-loving young talent, who would one day take the world by storm. Today, Peter Allen lives on as a household name, synonymous with his irresistible flair showcased best in his maraca-shaking, hip-shimmying performances of his hit sensation I Go To Rio. While he never publicly disclosed his sexuality, after his divorce with Liza Minelli, daughter of Judy Garland, Allen was never one to fake any sense of straightness. In his own words, "I was as out as a not-out celebrity could be then." 

But after returning down under from his flourishing career in America to support Helen Reddy on her 1975 Australian tour, Allen was not met with the warmest welcome home from the press. While some revered his supporting set with a glowing reception, applauding that Allen stole the show, there was a resounding wave of cold shoulders from the Australian press, snubbing Allen’s ‘flamboyance’. Throughout his career, Allen was forced to walk a fine tightrope of performing and dressing the way he loved, and holding onto a future as an entertainer amidst a world of commonplace prejudice. Even at the end of his life, he withheld his AIDS diagnosis for fear of being alienated by his conservative fanbase. 

While it can be painful to watch him perform his iconic ode I Still Call Australia Home, acknowledging the rejection Allen received from even his home country, the legacy of the Armidale-born, America-conquering superstar is today honoured by countless fans, old and new. The Boy From Oz, the musical retelling of Allen’s life which made its way to Broadway in 2003, has also become one of the most successful Australian musicals to date, with Hugh Jackman taking out a Tony award for his starring portrayal.

HANDSOME

If you’re yet to come across the cutting-edge electro-pop project that is HANDSOME, then today you’re in for a real treat. Self-described as a “queer, Tomboy pop and electronic artist”, HANDSOME is an impeccable musical and visual storyteller, directing her own music videos and weaving piercing lyrical messages centred on community, empathy, connection, and the celebration of self-expression. 

Her most recent artistic venture has taken the form of a music video trilogy, culminating as a short film alongside the release of her brand new EP BLAME, which has just come out today (for Sydney fans, you can also catch an extra special live showcase of the project presented by Vivid Sydney on June 10). Flourishing in gender fluidity, butch pride and queer protagonism, the film paints a refreshing revival of a romantic narrative that’s typically only portrayed through a heterosexual lens. But at the heart of it all, HANDSOME’s mesmerising sound delivers such a fitting vessel for her consoling and empowering lyrics. All we can say is more please, thank you HANDSOME.

Troye Sivan

Before his music career had taken flight, Troye Sivan had long been advocating his platform, first as one of Australia’s most popular YouTubers, to shed awareness and abolish stigma surrounding LGBTQIA+ issues.

Throughout the evolution of his decade-spanning career as an artist, Sivan’s discography today encompasses an expansive array of vibrant, proud, and heart-wrenching queer storytelling. Later flexing his creative muscles on the silver screen, Sivan featured in the heart-wrenching and highly-acclaimed AACTA Award-winning film adaptation of Garrard Conley's memoir Boy Erased, centred on the writer’s first-hand experiences with conversion therapy in the US. Along with his supporting role, Sivan’s Golden Globe-nominated ballad Revelation featured on the soundtrack, artfully extending the film’s themes of queer liberation.

Sivan’s latest project has seen him soundtrack and star in the 2022 comedy-drama Three Months - a coming-of-age romance set in 2011 positioned from the perspective of Caleb, a gay teen awaiting his impending HIV test results. Collaborating with beloved artist and fellow Aussie Gordi, Sivan joined forces to create one of his two featured tracks, Wait, showcasing the pair’s velvet vocal blend and interwoven narrative.

Sheldon Riley

Reaching the height of his career so far representing Australia in the Grand Final of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, Sheldon Riley’s unapologetic storytelling and artistic expression has turned the heads of the country, and now, the whole world. His song entry, Not The Same, is the epitome of power in vulnerability as the vocal powerhouse uncovers his experiences with autism and exclusion as a child in an utterly goosebump-inducing performance.

While growing up within a strict Christian upbringing, Riley has pointed out that his parents were very supportive when he came out as a young teenager. When speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, he said that: “To me, coming out as gay wasn’t the hard part, it was coming out doing what I do now. The way I dress and the way I act, sing and speak was more scary to me than coming out as homosexual.”

But now at 23, fully embracing every edge of his grandeur before the eyes of the world, Sheldon Riley has seized the spotlight to spread a message of self-love and celebration - to never diminish yourself or dull your differences.