The Coming Back Out Ball is Coming Back Out By Popular Demand

The second Coming Back Out Ball returns this October - it's a spectacular social event at the Melbourne Town Hall celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) elders aged 65+.

Established for its inclusivity and cultural significance, The Coming Back Out Ball aims to empower LGBTI elders to assert their social agency, value and worth within a mainstream and ageist paradigm.

The Coming Back Out Ball Artistic Director, Tristan Meecham, explains that the ball is a gift to honour the LGBTI aging community - it puts these wonderful people on a pedestal, "LGTBI elders are able to attend the ball for FREE. We want to acknowledge and champion the paths they've forged. Our vision is that The Coming Back Out Ball becomes an adored regular event on Melbourne's social calendar."

Blending showbiz bells and whistles, community celebration and heartfelt story telling with a full dinner service, this ravishing evening features performances from Briefs: Close Encounters, Meow Meow, Electric Fields and a very special Coming Back Out Ball Band.

The Coming Back Out Ball is conceived as a long-term ongoing project that supports the social needs and development of the growing LGTBI community - it successfully brings together different tiers of government and cross-sectorial partners to address the complexity of ageing and social isolation for this often marginalised group.

In 2018, The Coming Back Out Ball will address social isolation, ageism, homophobia and transphobia through a series of creative actions that celebrates and acknowledges LGBTI elders across rural and regional Victoria.

All The Queens Men will initiate social dance events to connect with socially-isolated LGBTI elders in partnership with municipalities across Victoria, including Greater Shepparton City Council, Mitchell Shire Council, Glen Eira City Council and Yarra City Council.

In the middle of the 2017 Australian same-sex postal survey, the inaugural The Coming Back Out Ball featured LGBTI performers, including Robyn Archer, Carlotta, Deborah Cheetham, Toni Lalich, Gerry Connolly, Lois Weaver and supported by The Coming Back Out Ball orchestra conducted by Dr. Kathleen McGuire.

Lizzi Craig who attended last year's ball explained, "It's the first time I have been honoured for all the decades of struggles and my lifetime commitment to my activism for my community."

The Coming Back Out Ball has been augmented with long- term ongoing social transformation projects that include the LGBTI Elders Dance Club, which was been held monthly for the last three years at the Fitzroy Town Hall and this year has expanded throughout regional Victoria.

In 2017, The Coming Back Out Ball also inspired a feature length film documentary, which recently premiered at the closing night gala for the 2018 Melbourne International Film Festival, with a national cinema release soon to follow.

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