Showbiz

'Kath and Kim's Magda Szubanski comes out as lesbian

Published Thursday, Feb 16 2012, 01:15 GMT | By Rebecca Davies | 5 comments

Magda Szubanski has come out as a lesbian during a TV interview.

The Kath and Kim comedienne, who spoke out earlier this week in support of gay marriage, announced on The Project that she wanted to speak out because the Australian parliament's refusal to grant marriage equality to same-sex couples is driving her "wild".

When asked why she had decided to come out, Szubanski said: "We live in a democracy. One in 10 people are not represented equally and... let me just define my terms. I identify as gay myself. I wouldn't define myself as straight or bisexual. I would say that I'm 'gay-gay-gay-gay-gay-a little bit not gay-gay-gay-gay'. Unfortunately there's not actually a word to describe me. I absolutely identify as gay and, for a very long time, have.

"I've been thinking about this for a very long time - I suppose people wonder why I haven't done it sooner, but it must be hard for people who haven't experienced it to understand what the pressures of being gay are. It would have been hard [to come out when I was younger]. It's so recent that things have changed."

Szubanski also expressed her anger that people seem to think that life is "fine for gay people", adding: "Young gay people are killing themselves. It's not fine."

Describing herself as "an incredibly open person", the star said: "For decades my family have known [that I'm gay], my friends have known, all my colleagues, I'm sure all of you knew. It's not like I was hiding it. That thing of 20 million people knowing your business is stressful. But it is for a lot of people."

Szubanski said of the Prime Minister's refusal to support same-sex marriage: "The majority of people want this, why we can't get it through drives me wild. It's so hard. How do you communicate to someone what it feels like to be on the receiving end of prejudice?

"There's nothing wrong with being gay. If there was a tablet you could take to cure it, I wouldn't take it. Find a pill that can cure [prejudice] instead."

Szubanski also revealed that she is currently single.

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Watch Magda Szubanski's interview on The Project below: