Miriam Margolyes came out as a lesbian in the 1960s, but has only just experienced the joy of attending her first Pride.
We know and love the 81 year old Harry Potter star for her witty comments and scandalous storiesbut now she talks about her own past and what it was like to get out of it.
The actress shared her story in ABC’s Australia Unmasked, with the British-Australian star delving into the history of LGBTQ+ rights Down Under.
In a precious moment, Miriam first went to Pride in Hobart, Tasmania, where she was filmed sitting in a wheelchair, holding a set of rainbow flags in her lap.
Miriam, who has been with her partner Heather Sutherland since 1968, spoke of her mother’s reaction to her arrival, recalling that she was “devastated.”
“I told my mother and she was devastated,” she said.
‘My parents were Jewish. My dad was a doctor, so you’d think he’d be a little bit knowledgeable.
“But no, not when it was his daughter. It couldn’t’.
Miriam’s mother, Ruth, was a real estate entrepreneur – she died in 1974, while her father, Joseph, died in 1995.
Elsewhere in the episode, the Queen of Anecdotes spoke to Tasmanian LGBTQ+ activist Rodney Croome, who explained that the island nation did not decriminalize homosexuality until 1997, making it the last place in Australia to do so.
The 58-year-old campaigner shared what it was like to witness ‘major anti-gay demonstrations’ in Ulverstone at a time when the community was fighting for their rights.
‘Hundreds of people came from all over the world in the late 1980s to protest against LGBTQ+ people.
“The speakers incite the crowd to even more hatred. The crowd shouted, “Kill them! Kill them!”.’
However, Rodney said the area has come by leaps and bounds in the years since, thanks to the protection it now provides for queer and transgender people.
After the episode aired, he tweeted that it was a “privilege” to film with Miriam and celebrate the state’s achievements.
“It has been a privilege to show Miriam Margoyles how Tasmania has gone from worst to best in terms of LGBTIQA+ human rights,” he wrote.
“The bigotry in which so many of my new friends grew up has all but disappeared,” Miriam added.
Tassie now has the most progressive LGBTQ+ laws in Australia.
But she acknowledged that the “battle is not over,” proudly saying, “be proud to march with them — or rather roll.”
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