Magda Szubanski tells how finding community saved her young life
Australian comedian Magda Szubanski discusses her experience growing up as a gay woman in a conservative, religious household. She reflects on the intense isolation and fear she felt during an era when homosexuality was criminalized and stigmatized.
Why it matters
It highlights the personal impact of historical social stigma on LGBTQIA+ individuals and the importance of finding community for mental well-being.
Magda Szubanski tells how finding community saved her young life By Fiona Purcell for Conversations Topic: LGBTQIA+
Link copied Share Share article When Magda Szubanski's mother held her newborn daughter for the first time in 1961 she looked at baby Magda, her third child, and announced, "This one's for the world".
Sixty-five years on, after a career in comedy, on Australian TV, stage and movie screens, Mrs Szubanski's prophecy has all but come true with her daughter easily described as a national treasure.
While Szubanski is known for embodying the hilariously accident-prone and eternally optimistic Sharon Strzelecki in Kath & Kim, life hasn't always been a barrel of laughs.
In fact, the opposite was the case when, as a young gay person, she felt the intense isolation of growing up in an era when homosexuality was widely stigmatised.
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