Six LGBTIQA+ Australians Named in King鈥檚 Birthday Honours List
Six LGBTIQA+ Australians have been recognised in this year鈥檚 King鈥檚 Birthday Honours list for their service to the LGBTIQA+ community.
The recipients include a diverse representation of the community, celebrating a wide range of achievements spanning decades of hard work.
LGBTIQA+ community shines in King鈥檚 Birthday Honours List
Felicity Young was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her distinguished service to public health, particularly to those living with HIV/AIDS, as well as for her contributions to gender equality and human rights. A founding member of Self Health for QLD Workers in the Sex Industry (now RESPECT Inc), Young has became a powerful voice in the fight against HIV/AIDS.听Young began her career as a social worker in the 1980s before quickly moving into policy. She was subsequently appointed to several HIV/AIDS-related governance and advisory boards. In 2020, she became the President of Health Equity Matters (formerly the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations), and in 2021 was appointed Principal Director of their Asia and the Pacific program.
Leonard Stanley Vary was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the philanthropic sector, to the LGBTIQA+ community, and to the arts. A lawyer and businessman, he was closely involved in the marriage equality campaign, and was named as one of Australia鈥檚 50 outstanding LGBTI role models in 2016 and 2018. Leonard was a foundational donor to the Victorian Pride Centre, and has served on the boards or as chair of multiple arts organisations. He is currently the CEO of The Myer Foundation and Sidney Myer Fund and co-chair of Equality Australia.
Jason Ball, Richard Watts, Suzanne Brooks and Kai Noonan were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for their service to the LGBTIQA+ community.
As a co-founder of Pride Cup, Jason Ball has been kicking goals for diversity ever since winning the LGBTI Sports Person of the Year in 2015. Having subsequently won the Young Australian Humanist of the Year in 2016, and a LGBTI Inclusion Award for Sport and the Young Australian of the Year (Victoria) in 2017, Ball has since gone on to work at GiveOut, a UK-based LGBTQI human rights activism charity.
The chair of Melbourne鈥檚 La Mama theatre, presenter of RRR鈥檚 SmartArts, founder of the Emerging Writer鈥檚 Festival, and founder of The Pink Magpies (now Collingwood Pride), Richard Watts has had his fingers in many artistic pies. Recognised as a Living Legend by Melbourne Fringe in 2017, Watts also edited the LGBTIQA+ newspaper Melbourne Community Voice and was on the programming committee of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival for 7 years.
Suzanne (Susan) Brooks was Australia鈥檚 Banking Industry Ombudsman in the 1990s before co-founding The Pinnacle Foundation in 2006. This foundation provides scholarships, mentoring and opportunities for young LGBTIQA+ Australians to attain higher education.
2024鈥檚 only non-binary award recipient, Kai Noonan was recognised for their work in the domestic and family wellbeing sector. Serving as Director of Sexual, Domestic and Family Violence Prevention at LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, they have over 15 years of experience working to end domestic, sexual and family violence in the LGBTIQA+ community.
Ryan Phillips, Marcus Ray and Tish Bruce won Public Service Medals for their outstanding work in state government, including their work as LGBTIQA+ advocates and leaders.
In announcing this year鈥檚 honours, Governor-General David Hurley stated 鈥淪ome names are well-known, but the vast majority are not 鈥� they are people who work tirelessly and selflessly to make a difference in our community 鈥� having the opportunity to meet so many diverse recipients in our honours system has been a tremendous privilege. Learning their stories has been inspiring and makes me enormously optimistic for our future.鈥�
听鈥淚 have been steadfast that the Order must reflect the diversity of our community 鈥� I am pleased by the progress we have made over the last five years.鈥�
听Anyone can nominate any Australian for an award in the Order of Australia. If you know someone worthy, nominate them now at .
LGBTIQA+ ally Dr David Zyngier was also awarded a Member of the Order of Australia:
“Advocate, Jewish LGBTQIA+ rights.”