Big Gay Day 2009 went off without a hitch, seeing a huge crowd through the gates. On the whole the masses were very well behaved, with only a little bit of shoving going on in the bottle necked pathways later in the afternoon. Some arrived early to brave the heat, but as the afternoon cooled down the crowds surged, the entrance queue extending a long way down the street.

Highlights of the day were the Mr Q. Awards, (with a very hot number 6 unfortunately robbed of a prize!), Operator Please getting the crowd jumping with their great stage presence and Crystal Waters giving a high energy performance. DJ Jimmy Dee also got the dance floor pumped, with spectacular visuals on a screen behind him, warming up the crowd for the outrageous Mega Drag featuring both drag kings and queens – some of them were even singing!

Inside the Wickham was pumping, with a large crowd of people dancing to DJ’s throughout the day. The Double Up Bears drew a particularly large crowd of hot, sweaty men, getting sexy on the dance floor.

The event has raised a record $40,206 for LGBT charities this year, beating the last year’s record by more than $5000!

Charities in line to receive the money are GLWA ( The Gay and Lesbian Welfare Association ) , QHAC, Open Doors, Toowoomba Young Womens Place and ATSAQ (The Australian Transgender Support Association). Three of the charities will be using the money in youth related projects.

Check out all the photos here.