The observation from VACountry co-ordinator Harry McAnulty comes after his two-week tour of Swan Hill, Shepparton and Mildura, part of gender and equality commissioner Ro Allen’s regional Victorian roadshow.

Mr McAnulty said homophobia and transphobia were still prevalent in rural communities and were cause for those areas’ residents to look elsewhere for a sense of belonging.   

“We might not think it, but some of these smaller communities find Bendigo a safer place,” Mr McAnulty said.

Among the young people making the shift to Bendigo is Ben, a 19-year-old from the Strathbogie Shire in the state’s north.

The gay man said his sexuality was a “key part” of his decision to move to the central Victorian city.

“Coming from a town of about 1000 people, you couldn't really express yourself or your sexuality so openly,” he said.

“I had that feeling of, 'Just keep to yourself, keep your head down'. 

“With a larger place, comes a larger community, and within it that community comes a large degree of safety.”

He was comforted before his move when an internet search for gay networks in Bendigo turned up the city’s monthly social event, FAB Fridays. 

In the few short months since his arrival, Ben has begun a relationship and met other people who identify as part of the LGBTI community.  

But he believed the city could become more accepting, saying a pride event would be a way to make him feel even more at home.  

“Besides the fact that I'm young and I like to party, I think it'd be a good thing for these rural areas to start celebrating something that's only been in a larger, metropolitan areas.” 

Mr McAnulty, whose organisation is tasked with responding to the risk of HIV in the Loddon Mallee region, also said it was more difficult for same-sex attracted and gender diverse people living in remote parts of the state to access health services.

Without specific sexual health clinics or LGBTI service providers, people were turning to their general practitioner for a blood-borne virus or STI test, something they found confronting in small and close-knit towns. 

But same-sex attracted people on Bendigo’s fringe will soon have greater support after Mr McAnulty recruited four volunteers from rural towns to train as LGBTI support workers.

They will use social media to connect with community members facing hardship, particularly those battling drug addiction.  

While the roadshow might have finished, Mr McAnulty said participating service providers – which also included support phone line Switchboard –  had made an ongoing commitment to LGBTI people outside of metropolitan Melbourne.

“We really want to make this a better place and a safer place,” he said. 

“That's going to take time, commitment and ongoing work.”