Well over a hundred people attended Nelson's OUTrageous dance party, held at the Nelson Yacht Club and organised by a collective of local glbt supportive groups including the Lesbian Link, Spectrum men's group, and youth group Q Nelson. Spokesman George Gibbs says there were many more who didn't attend so "it's difficult to get a good picture of the size of the gay population in Nelson... it isn't a highly visible population, something I'd like to see change, as visibility is our best weapon against ignorance and prejudice." Finding support in the wider community for promoting the event wasn't a problem for the organisers. All the businesses that were approached about providing spot prizes for the evening were supportive. The main purpose of the party was to raise the profile of the three local glbt support groups, and was highly successful in that regard. Local newspaper the “Richmond Leader” carried a story about the party, and local radio station Fresh FM were also very supportive. “In fact they came to us asking to know more, and gave us a slot on their breakfast programme,” says Gibbs. Events like this are usually only held in the area once every year or two, so the diversity of the crowd was much more apparent than at your average glbt city gathering. Gibbs says the age range stretched from teens to pensioners, and estimates up to a third of those present were attending a glbt event for the first time. A bigger follow-up day event is now being planned, possibly to coincide with the Nelson Arts Festival. "There are some local entertainers who could be roped in for a concert style event in the evening, but the big focus would be on a sporty cum fun event during the afternoon," says Gibbs. "A drag triathlon maybe, handbag throwing, stilletto heel races and the old country style three-legged races,sack races and so on." A committee will be meeting in November to throw around ideas. Enough of a profit was raised from the recent dance party to start building a kitty to fund future events. People can find out more about Nelson's gay groups by contacting George Gibbs on (03) 545-2284, and a full list contacts is available on the web: www.spectrum.org.nz . - 16th October 2005