Melbourne is an inclusive and diverse city, and the LGBTQIA+ community here has a long history of visibility, engagement and activism.
The Victorian Pride Centre provides a central home for LGBTQIA+ organisations and resources, including a branch of beloved queer bookshop Hares & Hyenas under its umbrella.
St Kilda's Jackson Street was painted as a Rainbow Road in celebration of marriage equality after same-sex union was legalised in 2017.
Key events on the LGBTQIA+ calendar are the Midsumma Festival and the annual Pride March in February, which bring the queer community and its allies out to celebrate with much joy and spectacle.
Each year the long-standing Melbourne Queer Film Festival hosts a top program for movie buffs.
Most venues and social scenes across Melbourne are welcoming and tolerant. While there's no particular neighbourhood that forms a hub for LGBTQIA+ folk, it's fair to say South Yarra, Windsor, St Kilda and Fitzroy offer plenty of queer-friendly entertainment.
Chill out at Beers for Queers nights at the Fox Hotel in Collingwood, and mingle at the Prince Public Bar in St Kilda, which first embraced Melbourne's gay and lesbian scene in 1937.
Keep up with Sundaylicious, a lesbian-specific party that pops up at various venues. Queer women can shake it out at Tomboy at the Carlton Club in the city, and 'Thursgay' Thursday-night queer parties at Yah Yah's in Fitzroy.
Sircuit in Fitzroy and The Laird in Abbotsford are the stalwarts for both cis and trans same-sex-attracted men. Look for gay-friendly Sunday sessions at The Railway Hotel in Windsor and The Emerson in South Yarra, and nights out at gay-specific nightclub The Peel in Collingwood.
Pop into Pride of Our Footscray Community Bar for friendly drag bingo and comedy shows, The 86 in Fitzroy for cocktails and burlesque, and South Yarra's Poof Doof for high-energy tunes and dance-floor action.
