Dannii Minogue: ‘Hatred sparked by Australia’s equal marriage vote was devastating’
The Aussie pop icon talks gay rights and 'Neon Nights' in our new July issue
By Will Stroude
Dannii Minogue has been a friend of the LGBT+ community since the earliest days of her career, and the former X Factor judge says she’s glad to see that her native Australia is a “happier, better place” since the passing of equal marriage at the end of last year.
Dannii, 46, campaigned hard for equality during Australia’s national postal vote on the issue last year, but says admits she found the bigotry dredged up by what was effectively a referendum on gay acceptance “pretty devastating”.
Reflecting on the battle for marriage equality in Attitude’s July issue, the ‘Put the Needle On It’ singer says: “It was such a political fight that everybody was talking about for a long, long time, and the fact there was a whole community on the edge thinking ‘If this doesn’t get passed we’re not really accepted’, was pretty devastating.
“It brought up a lot of hatred but now it’s been passed the work hasn’t stopped, however a lot of the arguing has.
“It’s a much happier, better place.”
Dannii, who has re-released her 2003 album Neon Nights as a limited edition vinyl to celebrate the record’s 15th anniversary, adds that the LGBT community have kept her going during her three decades in the music industry.
“I’ve always felt drawn to the LGBT+ community because it’s funny and sparkly and some of the wittiest, most intelligent people I’ve ever met are from that community,” she says.
“They really keep me going and give me an energy and a spark.
“Thankfully, it was a landslide vote so a lot of people are walking around Australia now with a confidence that while not everybody agrees with gay marriage, most people do.”
Read Dannii’s full interview in the July issue of Attitude.
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