Following from the successful launch of their book, Living and Loving in Diversity which included many renowned LGBTIQ+ artists, writersl leaders and activists of multicultural, multifaith backgrounds, AGMC has received a research grant from the Victorian Multicultural Commission and the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Social Cohesion, Department of Premier and Cabinet, to conduct a survey on discrimination faced by multicultural and multi-faith LGBTIQ communities.

The survey will provide insights in to the way our communities experience discrimination based on ethnicity, religion/faith, and LGBTIQ identities in different social contexts. The results will inform policy makers and the wider LGBTIQ communities to create strategies to end discrimination.
The lead researcher, Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, said “We have come a long way in Victoria toward ending racism, religious bigotry, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, but we have more to do.

There are still too many Victorians who experience racism or Islamophobia in gay venues, or homo/bi/transphobia in their ethnic or religious communities, or a mixture of discriminations in their schools, hospitals and workplaces. We need to know what you would want employers, police, hospitals, teachers, venue managers, to do so that you can feel free to be everything you are wherever you are without having to hide different parts of yourself depending where you are and who you’re with. Let’s keep making Victoria a safer and happier place for LGBTIQ people of diverse cultures and faiths!”