ABC
Magda Szubanski made an emotional appearance on Anh’s Brush With Fame last night whilst discussing marriage equality.
The comedienne – who came out as gay in 2012 – broke down to Anh Do about how Australia still doesn’t support gay marriage.
‘In a country like this, where it would cost us nothing… we still don’t have marriage equality,’ she said, whilst wiping away tears.
Stressing that she wasn’t concerned about herself, but worried about how Australia’s stance on the issue would affect future generations.
‘I’m not crying my tears for myself. I mean, in a sense, a bit. But I think about young people now.’
The emotional topic even touched Anh who admitted to the Kath and Kim star: ‘You’re making me cry, Magda.’
Speaking about battling with her sexuality growing up, the 56-year-old actress continued: ‘Even now, I have heart palpitations, seriously, when I think about it. It was a horrible, horrible realisation… I just felt nothing but disgust and shame for myself.’
However, despite the pain, Magda admitted coming out as a lesbian five years ago was ‘incredibly liberating’.
Magda said she realised she was gay in 1974, but the stigma attached to coming out back then contributed to her depression and ‘complete lack of confidence’.
‘People forget now, ’cause things are so much better than they were, just how awful it was, you know, for people who were gay back then,’ she told Anh.
‘It was diagnosed as a mental illness, it was illegal and it was conflated with pedophilia so it was the most shameful thing you could be.’
When asked by Anh what she would tell her 12-year-old self Magda revealed:
‘I would say, er, ‘Don’t fret. It’s all gonna work out alright’… And I would say, ‘There will come a time when gay people will be allowed to be married… Not in this country but…’ That would’ve changed my life.’
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