Those trying to axe Rainbow Festival 'not representing the true face of Orange'

She believes Orange is a diverse and welcoming place to live.

Nevertheless, she was disappointed and angered to hear that at the upcoming Orange City Council meeting on March 5, Councillor Kevin Duffy would move a motion to pull all support and funding for the event aimed at celebrating the LBGTQIA+ community.

"They're representing a small group who are conservative, fearful, controlling and that's very unfair," Ms Rhys-Jones said.

"We know it is only a handful of people."

The council received a $125,000 grant from the NSW Government to hold the event.

In a 24 hour period after news broke about the festival's potential demise, about 170 people reserved tickets to the Saturday afternoon event in Robertson Park on March 23.

Now in her 60s, Ms Rhys-Jones is an out and proud lesbian.

But in 1978 at the age of 17, she "didn't even know what a lesbian was".

"There was no information, no newspaper articles, no characters on television," she said.

"I thought you were only a lesbian if you couldn't get a boyfriend and I had a boyfriend. It was a very different time."

In 1980 she marched in her first - and only the third ever - Sydney Mardi Gras.

It was a far cry from the celebration of LGBTIQA+ people that the event is today.

"It was terrifying being in that march," Ms Rhys Jones said.

"TV crews filming you and you worried that you'd be seen on television. Would your family or workmates see you? Would you be fired? It was a time of fear so you had to be in the closest."

It wasn't until her late 20s she felt confident enough to come out as a member of the queer community.

Even then, homophobia was so entrenched in society that she herself didn't use the word "lesbian" until 14 year after she had "dealt with" her own sexuality as she felt it was "offensive".

In 2018, Ms Rhys-Jones and her partner Lauren Rushton decided to leave Sydney and start a life in Orange.

They have since built a successful wine tour business and are simply known to their friends as Libby and Lauren.

"We don't wear flags on our heads or anything, but we're a couple and we're proud," Ms Rhys-Jones said.

As well as being business owners, they are parents, grandparents and involved members of the community.

She believes the normalcy with which queer people live their lives can often be lost on some people and that cancelling an event like the Rainbow Festival won't mean they simply disappear.

"I don't know what they visualise when they think of queer," Ms Rhys-Jones said.

"There are people with disabilities who are queer, Indigenous people who are queer. We're not just a bunch of white middle-class people or drag queens. We represent everyone out there."

Ms Rhys-Jones was part of a group which organised a pride festival for 2020, before Covid put an end to that.

She was delighted to know her community would finally be one of many regional towns such as Tamworth, Broken Hill and Bathurst holding pride festivals.

"When you look at a lot of these communities who are trying to show they're up with the times, they have held these festivals to show they're inclusive of communities," she added.

"It's okay to be in one small part of the town for a few days and hold your partner's hand and not feel like you're going to be stared at. If you don't want to see it, don't go. Nobody is forcing you."

Kris Dhillon is the spokesperson for the Orange Christian Alliance - a group heading up a campaign to get the Rainbow Festival cancelled - and has so far declined an invitation to speak to the CWD.

Ms Rhys-Jones reminded people that even if the festival is cancelled, members of the LGBTQIA+ community "don't just go away".

"We're in the community living every day. We're part of it in every workforce in every way," she added.

"This is an opportunity to come together as a community and invite everyone else to share it and have fun."

The festival is scheduled to run across three days beginning on March 22 with drag bingo at The Greenhouse.

Events are free and those wishing to attend can register via the council's website.