Scott is best known for his series regular role as Hunter in Channel 7’s ‘Home & Away’ and recently appeared in ABC’s Dairy of an Uber Driver. In 2014 Scott played the lead role in an independent feature film ‘Pulse’ a story about a gay disabled teenage boy discovering who he is. Scott’s recently theatre credits include Ensemble Theatre Co’s, A View from the Bridge and This is Our Youth.
Benjamin Law writes books, TV screenplays, columns, essays and feature journalism. He’s the author of the memoir The Family Law (2010), the travel book Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East (2012)—both nominated for Australian Book Industry Awards—the Quarterly Essay on Safe Schools, Moral Panic 101 (2017) and edited the anthology Growing Up Queer in Australia (2019). The Family Law was adapted into three seasons of an award-winning SBS TV series, which Benjamin created and co-wrote. Benjamin has also written for over 50 publications in Australia and beyond—including the Monthly, frankie, Good Weekend, the Guardian, the Australian, Monocle and the Australian Financial Review—and has a PhD in creative writing from QUT. He co-wrote the comedy book Shit Asian Mothers Say (2014) with his sister Michelle, and the sex/relationships advice book Law School (2017) with his mum Jenny. He was also a researcher and associate producer on Blackfella Films’ Deep Water: The Real Story (SBS) and a writer on Endemol Shine’s Sisters (Netflix/Ten). He’s now working on a play for the Melbourne Theatre Company and a two-part ABC feature documentary, Waltzing the Dragon (July 2019). Every week, Benjamin co-hosts ABC RN’s weekly national pop culture show Stop Everything. He also co-hosts online startup and tech TV show That Startup Show, and you can catch him on TV shows like Q&A(ABC), The Drum (ABC), The Project (Ten) and Filthy Rich and Homeless (SBS). He’s a Queenslander based in Sydney.
Photograph by Daniel Francisco Robles.
Zoe Terakes made their stage debut in A View from the Bridge for The Old Fitz theatre for which they received Sydney Theatre Awards for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in an Independent Production, and as joint winner, the Best Newcomer Award. Zoe also received the Don Reid Memorial award at the GLUGS for this performance. Other theatre credits include A View from the Bridge and A Doll’s House Part II for MTC, and Metamorphoses and The Wolves for The Old Fitz. Zoe is a current Helpmann Award nominee for Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play for MTC’s production of A View from The Bridge. Zoe made their screen debut in the critically acclaimed Janet King for the ABC opposite Marta Dusseldorp, and will next be seen on Foxtel series The End. Most recently, Zoe co-starred in the feature film Ellie & Abbie (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt), short film The Craft, which premiered at FlickerFest and the forthcoming web-series Bondi Slayer.
Nevo is a Jewish, queer, non-binary writer, activist and public speaker with a particular focus on issues surrounding gender, sex, culture and sexuality. Based in Naarm / Birraranga / Melbourne, they run workshops in schools and workplaces around trans issues. They are also the author of award-winning Finding Nevo, a memoir on gender transition and a contributor toKindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories.
Photograph by Jacinta Oaten.
Jordan Raskopoulos is a Sydney based comedian, singer and influencer best known for her work as the lead singer of The Axis of Awesome, her TEDx talk on high functioning anxiety and for making the suggestion that Australia Day should be moved to the eighth of May because May 8 sounds like Mate.
She’s a star jammer for Sydney Roller Derby League and spends a lot of her spare time roller skating and playing Warhammer 40,000. Jordan is also an accomplished writer, journalist and events host. With stories published in numerous anthologies and work published by The Guardian and Junkee Media. She has also contributed copy, voices and characters to many high profile advertising and promotional campaigns. Jordan is an Australian National Theatresports champion and sometimes goes on television programs and panel shows like Good News Week, QandA, Whovians and Thank God You’re Here. Jordan’s also had some acting success, most notably playing Trax in Underground: The Julian Assange Story, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival to critical acclaim. Jordan got her start as one of the creators of Australian Network Ten’s 2005-6 sketch comedy program The Ronnie Johns Good Times Campfire Jamboree Half Hour Show Now On Television (The Ronnie Johns Half Hour). The show was nominated for two Logie awards, including “most outstanding comedy series” and was a cult comedy hit in Australia and internationally. Jordan is a transgender woman and an outspoken advocate for LGBTQIA+ and mental health causes. She is an ambassador to Twenty10, a social services organisation for LGBTQIA+ youth.
Charmaine Bingwa is a Zimbabwean / Australian actor. In 2018, Bingwa made history becoming the first openly gay, person of colour to be awarded the Heath Ledger Scholarship in its 10 year duration. So was also awarded the 2018 Equity Atlantic Award and received a Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2017. She starred in Nekrotronic (2018) alongside Monica Bellucci and starred, wrote, produced & directed the series Little Sista, winner of Best Screenplay at the LGBT Toronto Film Festival and finalist in Web Series Festival Global, Hollywood and included for official selection in Out Web Fest LA, Web Series Festival Global, Sicily Web Fest, Roma Cinema DOC, New Jersey Web Fest, ITVFest, Tuscany Web Fest, Miami Web Fest and Melbourne Web Fest.
Tom Ballard is an award-winning stand up comedian and broadcaster. He's hosted the triple j breakfast show, won an ARIA and a Helpmann Award, fronted his own nightly satirical ABC TV programme Tonightly with Tom Ballard and performed stand up all over the world to critical acclaim.
Georgie Stone is one of the most visible transgender individuals in Australia.
In 2011 she was the youngest person to receive puberty blockers in Australia, and in 2013 a landmark ruling in her case re: Jamie meant that no other child had to go to court to access puberty blockers. Since then, Georgie has dedicated her time to advocating for trans and gender diverse young people.
Her advocacy work has driven progress in health and medical services, access to safe schooling environments and legal reform. Georgie's presence in the media through her appearances on Four Corners and Australian Story has brought much-needed awareness to the issues facing trans and gender diverse young people today. In August 2019 she will make her acting debut in Neighbours, playing the first trans character in the show's 34-year history.
Georgie was named the 2018 Victorian Young Australian of the Year, in 2017 she won the Young People’s Human Rights Medal, and in 2019 she was awarded Hero of the Year at the LGBTI Awards. She is also the recipient of numerous other awards including GLOBE Person of the Year, Making a Difference Award (Anti-Defamation Commission), the Young Voltaire Award (Liberty Victoria) and the Create Change Award (Channel 7). She is proud to be an Ambassador for Wear It Purple.
Liv Hewson is a non binary actor from Canberra, Australia. You can see them in stuff like Santa Clarita Diet, Homecoming Queens, Top of the Lake, Before I Fall, and a bunch of other things. They currently live and work mostly in the States.
Harry is an award winning actor, writer and LGBTQI+ activist.
Some highlights of his career so far include starring opposite Academy Award winner Geena Davis as her on-screen son in acclaimed film Accidents Happen, starring alongside Peter Phelps and Ben Oxenbould as Archie Cox in cult thriller Caught Inside, working alongside Sam Neil and Bryan Brown in ABC TV Series Old School, and recently winning the Best Supporting Actor award at the prestigious FilmOut San Diego Film Festival for his role in feature film Drown.
Harry will also appear in the upcoming 2019 TV Series Diary of an Uber Driver on ABC.
His theatre work includes playing Banquo in Macbeth, the lead role of Tom in the Australian premiere of Mark Ravenhill’s groundbreaking play Citizenship at Studio 1 at The Wharf in Sydney which was directed by Lee Lewis, Mark Cohen in Sydney’s limited season of the Broadway smash hit RENT, and Duncan Brookes in Russetts at the International Playwright Festival in Cambridge, England.
Harry also was part of the Playlist 2018 & 2019 readings directed by Kate Gaul.
His writing work includes contributions to The Huffington Post, The Big Smoke and The Guardian and his debut memoir, Pink Ink, was released by Finch/Harper Collins in September 2018 to rave reviews.
His young adult fiction novel: Fin & Rye & Fireflies is due for release in Spring 2020 worldwide as the first LGBTQI+ themed novel from Black and White Publishing’s YA imprint Ink Road.
Clementine Ford is a feminist writer from Naarm (Melbourne). She is the author of the bestselling books 'Fight Like A Girl' and 'Boys Will Be Boys'. She lives in a cosy flat with her small human and his teddy bear.
Patrick Abboud is a multi-award winning TV presenter, journalist and documentary maker. He is the founder of SBS VICELAND’s The Feed. His documentary Breaking Point: Bullying’s Deadly Toll is described as “Must Watch TV” (The Guardian), “a documentary every Australian needs to see” (news.com.au). Patrick has also written, directed and presented content for the world’s largest LGBTQI live event broadcast, The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for the past 6 years and hosted the program on SBS television. He won the 2018 Kennedy Award for outstanding nightly TV current affairs reporting. In 2017 he was awarded a special commendation from Amnesty International for best long form television and Cosmopolitan magazine named him one of the most 50 influential LGBTQI voices.
Patrick’s work has been nominated for a Walkley and multiple United Nations Media Awards.
In 2016 he won the LGBTQI Broadcaster of the Year Award. As an Ambassador for Twenty10, through community outreach, Patrick works to support homeless or at-risk young people.
Anthony Brandon Wong is an award-winning actor who has played a wide range of roles in numerous films and more than 40 hit television programs in the US, Canada, Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Africa. He is best known to international audiences for his role as 'Ghost', the Zen Buddhist assassin in "The Matrix Reloaded", "The Matrix Revolutions", and as the lead character (alongside Jada Pinkett Smith) in the "Enter the Matrix" video game. For 3 seasons, Wong played the principal role of Danny Law in the SBS/Matchbox Pictures comedy series "The Family Law".
In 2019, Wong can be seen in the supporting role of drag queen Virginia Woof in the Australian movie "Sequin in a Blue Room", which made its world premiere at Sydney Film Festival and won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. Wong played Patrick McDermott, the real-life Korean-American cameraman who disappeared in 2005, in the mini-series "Olivia: Hopelessly Devoted to You" opposite his acting student, Australian singer/actress Delta Goodrem, who portrayed Olivia Newton-John.
Wong's many other screen credits include Flight of the Pheonix, Haywire, Glee, NCIS, Hemingway & Gellhorn, Guns, Girls & Gambling, Hawaii Five-0, The Unit, Samurai Girl, Mask of the Ninja, Newton's Law, Pulse, The Letdown, Blue Murder: Killer Cop, First Day, Winter and All Saints. His stage work includes more than 30 productions with companies such as Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre and Playbox Theatre Company. He is a twice winner of the Equity Ensemble Award for Most Outstanding Performance by a Comedy Ensemble for The Family Law, and a winner of the Victorian Green Room Best Actor Award, for his role in Sex Diary of an Infidel.
Lauren Elloise is a lesbian video creator from Sydney, Australia, with over 80K subscribers and 7M views on YouTube. Lauren offers advice for young LGBTQ+ people, raises awareness about diversity, and normalises being in queer relationships. She openly shares her experience of being a lesbian with her close-knit audience, creating a safe space for queer youth around the world.
Lauren Elloise has been an ambassador for Wear It Purple since 2020, actively campaigning for LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools and the workplace.
“Visibility is something I feel I missed out on growing up in a rural area. So it’s really important to me that I show support not only for the younger version of myself, but for our young rainbow people today.
Some of my YouTube audience is made up of people who are beginning to figure themselves out, and I want there to be space for them. Within my community, and in society itself.”
Website: laurenelloise.com
YouTube: laurenelloise
Instagram: laurenelloise
Age: 24
Tiktok: @nichrichie
Instagram: @nichtopher
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NicholasTopher
Pronouns: they/them
“Wear it Purple means a lot to me. I became aware of Wear it Purple around 2015/2016 and the great work that it was doing for Rainbow Young People. As a Non Binary person still discovering my sexuality and gender, the resources they provided were incredibly helpful in my journey. And the work they do gives my heart strength for the next generation”.
Age: 17
Pronouns: He/Him
Tiktok: connnorrowsell
Instagram: connnorrowsell
YouTube: ConnorRowsell
“I haven’t known about WIP for long but it is definitely and organisation i can stand by proudly as a proud gay man myself. The mental health for LGBTQI+ is an issue in our world today, and no one should be ashamed to reach out. As WIP says, you have the right to be proud of who you are.”
Age: 25
Pronouns: He/Him
Tiktok: JimRossington
Instagram: JimRossington
“Wear it Purple means inclusion, acceptance and love. Being able to be who we are and feel safe and accepted by a supporting community. We have to embrace our uniqueness and stand with pride, supporting our fellow LGBTQI+ family.”
Age: 23
Pronouns: She/Her
Tiktok: queenofgoon
Instagram: queenofgoon
YouTube: kirrahasariddle
Pronouns: she/her
”Wear It Purple means so much to me. In 2010 I was scrolling tumblr and found one of the first posters for WIP Day and that is what prompted me to come out. I even wore a purple cape! I know that WIP was instrumental to my journey as a young queer person and I’m forever thankful for that.”
Age: 11
Tiktok: @_jackaranda_
Instagram: @_jackaranda_
YouTube: Jackaranda K
Pronouns: He/Him
“Wear it purple day to me is an opportunity to teach people about different genders and sexualities. A day dedicated to reminding everyone to be accepting and inclusive of people’s differences and celebrating who we are because we are all fabulous”
Age:20
Pronouns: She/her
tiktok: @meissa.com.au
Instagram: meissamason
Youtube: Meissa Mason
Hey, you mob!
My name is Meissa, I am a 20 year old Wiradjuri, Gomeroi and Awabakal, queer woman. I am one of 10 siblings and grew up in Wollongong and Sydney. Currently I am studying a double degree of a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Arts - majoring in Indigenous Studies and minoring in Visual Arts.
I am also a content creator, I make content on Tiktok and Instagram of all sorts of topics. WIP reached out to me in 2020 to be an ambassador and I have been involved ever since!
Age:13
Pronouns: He/Him
George Ray is a 13 year old Gay Youth Rights Advocate who is passionate about raising awareness in schools and local communities to support LGBTQIA+ youth & Wear It Purple day.
He recently marched his first Middsumma & Mardi Gras parade. George is loud and proud, and believes everyone has the right to be who they are without any pressure to conform. “Being gay is not a choice, it is who I am, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that”
Pronouns: She/Her
Instagram: @peachprc
TikTok: @peachprc
Peach PRC is an Australian Pop singer, songwriter and social media personality. Peach PRC has been credited as one of the most successful creators on TikTok with over 120 million likes alongside nominations for the Australian Rolling Stone and APRA Awards.
Peach PRC came out as a Lesbian in January 2022 and is proud to support Wear it Purple.
Pronouns: She/Her
Instagram: @mayawithadash
Tiktok: @stupidmaya
Youtube: MAY-A
Website: https://may-amusic.com/
20-year-old Sydney-based singer-songwriter MAY-A distils her life into understated indie-pop vignettes which are universally poignant, charmingly astute, endlessly empathetic and disarmingly honest. In the process, she deftly and authentically captures the peculiar sensations of being a young person alive in this moment, articulated with a clarity, vulnerability and maturity beyond her years. Her confessional, stream-of-consciousness lyricism captures the excitable fullness of her interior life, full of whimsical asides, wry observations and heartrending moments of clear-eyed emotional clarity. Across all of her releases to date, MAY-A has honed her ability to take the small moments of life and make them feel larger than they seem, injecting her lyrical vignettes of navigating relationships and everyday existence with an unguardedness that invites you in but hints at something left unseen. On her 2021 debut EP, Don’t Kiss Ur Friends, MAY-A charts the course of an autobiographical relationship, telling the story of a blossoming queer identity and budding transition from adolescence to adulthood, growing ever more into her own music along the way. Traversing first loves, break-ups and more, Don’t Kiss Ur Friends undercuts the elated rush of those formative years with the pangs of hurt that so often accompany them.
Pronouns: They/He
Instagram: @tomi.dragqueen
Tiktok: @tomi.queen
Tomi grew up in the Western sububs of Sydney and went to an all boy’s catholic school, where being queer wasn’t only frowned upon, it was often silenced. They felt like they had to hide who they were and struggled to affirm their identity. At 21 they moved to Germany and whist there, fell into the world of drag. 8 years later, they are proud to call myself a Drag Queen who is making a difference in the LGBTQIA+ communities. I have worked in the media and entertainment industry for 10 years, and most recently focused on supporting LGBTQIA+ communtiies online both in the local and US markets, including running the world’s first global pride ambassador program during Sydney World Pride. This year I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the world’s biggest LGBTQIA+ icons including Sam Smith, Kim Petras, Dominque Jackson, Sugar and Spice and local hereos like Kita Mean, Rhys Nicholson and Spankie Jackson.