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Despite a lot changing in the last 25 years, a North-West teenager says it is still difficult to ‘come out’ on the Coast. But that hasn’t stopped Sam Watson sharing his story with a national audience through the ABC Heywire competition, where he is a finalist. The 18-year-old identifies as gay and says although he knew he was gay at 10-years-old, he found it hard to be different on the Coast and faced challenges being in a Catholic school. Mr Watson said he had a young love when he was 10 but he had to keep it a secret while everyone else had their girlfriends. He said he had two coming outs, the first was when he was in primary school. “I have always been quite out there... I remember sitting down with my girlfriends in the playground and they said to me, ‘you’re gay tell us’. I ran off to the bathroom at recess but by lunch I was fine with it… everyone knew pretty quickly.” The second came later when he was in grade nine at St Brendan-Shaw College in Devonport. He said he told his parents and siblings, who were supportive and didn’t make a big deal of it. “Four years later, as a 14-year-old attending a Catholic college I found myself thinking the same thing again. Why do I have to be different? I struggled to accept myself and my sexuality.” He said less than a month after he came out, a booklet called Don’t Mess With Marriage was sent by the Catholic Bishops of Australia to all Catholic student’s homes, including his. The booket did not attack homosexuality but was part of a campaign to keep marriage between a man and a woman. The booklet said people who experienced same-sex attraction must be treated with respect, sensitivity and love, but that marriage should remain between a man and a woman. “Redefining marriage to include same-sex relationships will have far reaching consequences for us all,” the booklet said. Mr Watson said he moved schools because he was campaigning for marriage equality and safe schools and he didn’t feel he could do that where he was. “My school boasted about welcoming diversity and yes, I will always be grateful for the support I received from the staff at my school,” Mr Watson said. “But despite this, the Catholic Church used schools to campaign against my rights.” He said when he moved down to The Friends’ School in Hobart, there were a number of openly gay students. “I probably was the only openly gay person at my school, which comes with age but it also comes with location. “When you compare those areas there is certainly a big difference in those who feel comfortable to come out.” He said he thought less people felt comfortable to come out in the North-West because there was a lack of support and role models. “When I was coming out I didn’t have anyone locally to look to or talk to that was gay.” He said he thought Ulverstone and the Coast’s history made it harder for people to come out. The Coast’s hate for homosexuals LGBTI rights advocate Rodney Croome said in 1989 several anti gay rallies began in Ulverstone and across the North-West. “They were angry, hateful and divisive events I had never seen before and I hope I never see again,” Mr Croome said. He said they responded to the rallies by conducting candlelight vigils at the rallies, with a bus load of LGBTIQ advocates from across the state. “I am glad we did it because it helped turn public opinion around. People who saw media coverage could see we had the courage of our convictions and we would not be indidmaded by hatred and prejudice.” Related Story He said if people wanted to understand the damage that was done, they should read what Smithton’s Hannah Gadsby has written or watch her world famous Netflix show Nanette. “You will see there just how profoundly hurtful the anti-gay campaigning was, including those awful rallies. Hannah Gadsby expresses it really well.” Mr Watson said she expressed the feelings of rural people and told of their pain in Nanette, which resonated with people around the world, but spoke so particularly to his experience of the North-West. Ms Gadsby said in Nanette that she loved growing up in Tasmania and felt at home but realised she had to leave as soon as she found out she was “a little bit lesbian”. “But the wisdom of the day was that, if you chose to be gay, then you should just get yourself a one-way ticket to the mainland, and don’t come back. Gays… why don’t you just pack your AIDS up into a suitcase there and f**k off to Mardi Gras?,” she says in Nanette. Ms Gadsby said it took her a long time to come to terms with her sexuality because of “bad press”, especially the Letters to the Editor section. She said she knew nothing about lesbians because there was no education around it and she struggled relating to the Mardi Gras on television because she was a “a quiet soul”. Mr Watson said a lack of acceptance, public role models, or support services make you feel that you could truly be “the only gay in the village”. He said under different circumstances he may still be in the closet. “It is for this reason that I advocate for LGBTIQ+ youth, especially those living in rural Australia, because everyone should feel safe and supported.”

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