Same Same 25 Announced

Local News, By Christian Taylor, 17th December, 2009

Today Same Same announced the third annual list of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians.

Click here to watch video interviews with some members of the 25.

Click here to see the full Same Same 25 list.

This year’s list includes high-profile names like Olympic diver Matthew Mitcham, medical practitioner Kerryn Phelps, performers Sia and Tim Campbell and MTV’s Ruby Rose.

There are also several firsts in the list for 2009, including the first posthumous award given to poet Dorothy Porter, and the first transgender female on the list, activist Stefanie Imbruglia.

The list is compiled from nominations by the Australian public. “It’s always fascinating to look back on the past twelve months at who has been influential,” says Same Same co-founder Tim Duggan, “and every year the breadth of influence continues to amaze us.”

From courtrooms to living rooms, the list covers a wide range of professions and includes former High Court Justice Michael Kirby and Australian Greens leader Bob Brown, the only two people to remain on the list for the past three years.

Other notable members of the 25 include the Choir of Hard Knocks creator Jonathan Welch, Oscar winning filmmaker Adam Elliot, drag queen Vanessa Wagner, and Nathan Hudson, the lead singer of Faker.

The motivation behind the list is to bring together a group of the most inspirational and influential gays and lesbians in Australia, shining a spotlight on people and issues that should be talked about and debated, while creating the next generation of role models.

The criteria for nomination in the Same Same 25 is that the nominated person must be an Australian citizen who has publicly acknowledged that they are gay or lesbian. They could be someone who has a lot of influence over a large number of people, or they could be a behind-the-scenes worker who is highly respected in their chosen profession.

Click here to see the full Same Same 25 list.

Related Videos

Same Same 25 - 2009 17 December, 2009

Your Thoughts

shaynesydney

said on the 23rd Dec, 2009

The young queers of today- think Andy Warhol was a suitable role model. Though he was a stupid racist hack. Encore LOLZ. I never criticise 'the young queers' - I used to be them.

Light-Bearer

said on the 23rd Dec, 2009

I actually like them- they are awfully pretty and like good music- I just think they are a bit distracted.

shaynesydney

said on the 23rd Dec, 2009

Many of them are quite pretty, though an awful lot of them are fat. I could never talk to a fat person, somebody I know might see me.

Light-Bearer

said on the 23rd Dec, 2009

I like fat people They make me look thinner

Light-Bearer

said on the 23rd Dec, 2009

And anorexics are so sooky and cranky

shaynesydney

said on the 23rd Dec, 2009

I tend to hang out with fuglies cos they make me look pretty. But I'm getting outta here now before I get told off by Tammy again. :( Toodles.

shaynesydney

said on the 24th Dec, 2009

btw., mazel tov Gary http://www.samesame.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=195775#post195775

rudeboy86

said on the 24th Dec, 2009

The young queers of today- think Andy Warhol was a suitable role model. Though he was a stupid racist hack. Just a pitty the Valerie was a crap shot... I look up to Emma Goldman and Patrick Califia among others...

Asherbella

said on the 28th Dec, 2009

Pfft. "Annoying, boring and highly strung"? Butchya are Blancheya ARE. Asherbella, you presume way too much in thinking people give your opinions of character any consideration – particularly in respect to your sour-faced self-righteous opinions of them, personally? Others on here have noted your sanctimonious drivel on many an occasion. I too have never had much time for self-appointed personality attorneys, wannabe amateur psychologists or other such units with little else to contribute to forum discussions. Such is the classic deflection strategy of many a limp-wristed, lisping forum bogan with significant undiagnosed psych/personality issues they prefer to project onto others rather than acknowledge of themselves. I simply don’t suffer fools easily Asherbella, that's what your gripe really is and, as one poster in the gay discussion forum in the UK has noted by reading this one (note what I've put into bold for your information on what impression our international peers get of gay Australians from seeing this forum): 1. I would advise all of those who are truly concerned about the dire state of HIV prevention and equally the denial and obfuscations of those supporting the HIV sector to take a look at this thread which is currently ongoing in Sydney - In it, two Sydney bystanders are fighting for the truth and supporting their arguments with corroborative data singlehandedly against an onslaught of rabid HIV sector trolls who are using the same deflective and intimidatory tactics to thwart all opposing viewpoints. Understand that in Sydney ignorance reigns and and it is this ignorance that the HIV sector feeds upon to advance its own agenda. One quote that sums it all up appears on page 7 - http://www.samesame.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=13172 “Each new generation of young gay men is more ignorant with what HIV living entails, more flippant when it comes to discussing it and more blasé and cavalier about whether they catch it– as they are encouraged to be IMO. They then suck up valuable resources whining about having caught this erstwhile mysterious virus and not knowing how to deal with it, by which time they have to learn about it anyway because they’re stuck with it for life. If they’d known in the first place what they end up having no choice but to learn, a whole lot of seroconversions could be prevented. It’s the too comfy over-funded self-serving HIV prevention education bodies that are at fault here, first and foremost, for having only concentrated on preaching the condom use message with not enough reasoning or rationale as to why. They aren’t putting the health of gay communities first, but their own financing and careers. As long as the AIDS industry continues to thrive financially for as little initiative and effort as possible, that’s all it cares about. This is why that industry stands apart, in profile, from the philanthropic fields. (It is arguably exploiting and perpetuating ignorance for its own end means, but that’s a seperate debating point, really.) It nevertheless exploits the necessary taxpayer funding, it exploits the volunteers that do its lacky work while an overpaid underqualified elite core of prima donnas sit back smugly in overfaclititated abundance enjoying private catering, international travel junkets and queer VIP status, and it exploits and commodifies the HIV+ it has made way for by using them as begging bait for charity revenue and statistics for government funding eligibility. It’s all rather parasitic IMO. The actual HIV+ are then more often treated with an air of contempt and disdain by some of these key orgs who treat them like nuisances and seemingly see them as the garbage element of our communities.” Deja vu? http://www.homovision.tv/video-gmfas-matthew-hodson-hiv-prevention/ So pardon me for not having such a high opinion of something as facile as a SS 25. There are more significant issues, they do get attempted, they are shouted down and SS does gag such comment by the lazy and censorial moderation ploy of simply shutting down such threads rather than editing out what could be considered offensive. And pardon me for incidentally daring to overlap into such flippant off-topic territory as gay community health on such a weighty matter as the SS 25, but maybe when SS actually decides to allow threads on gay community health to remain open, this sacreligious crime won’t be necessary. I do hope Santa cums down your chimney, Asherbella, it sounds like you’ve been in dire need for unbearably too long xxx Well, one thing I can say for you is you are very confident, extremely direct & you believe in the core messages you express. But embedded in this expression, I think, is a stream of spite at either being frustrated by your lack of influence/popularity; and this deficit hinders your efforts in being heard in terms of enacting change? I just wonder if you see yourself as part of the gay community because you seem to cast yourself as the 'lone renegade' time & time again: that isn't a criticism, just something I'm aware of, I believe.

Asherbella

said on the 28th Dec, 2009

"Absolve"? Were you raised a Catholic? It has nothing to do with absolution, everything to do with prevention.None of your business, my religious upbringing. I am who I am, I choose the words I write & these words, while open for comment, are not a reflection of how I relate to matters of spiritual thought. Point taken on prevention: much respect for your efforts, writings & such; but fishing for personal info is pointless - I voluntarily divulge the things I choose to discuss here on Same Same & my upbringing is not on the table for you to mock.

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