At a gay pride rally on Saturday Ms Holden urged people to come out and be confident in their sexuality in their home town. 

Ms Holden, who grew up in Stawell, knew she was bisexual from age 10.

“Don’t go moving to big cities to come out, do it in your regional towns, make sure that your regional towns know that you’re here because it’s important and it’s not going away,” Ms Holden, co-convener of Equal Love Ballarat and co-founder of GRIND media, said.

“We’re all here, you’ve got a community that loves you and we’re not going to let you do it alone.

“Know that you’re safe and know that you’re loved and that you’ve got spaces in Ballarat to go.”