G Flip, Magnolia Starr And The Volunteers Who Carried Melbourne’s People’s Choice Awards
Euphoria Social’s People’s Choice Awards and Gala returned to Melbourne on 13 June 2026, and the night belonged to the community that built it. The fully volunteer-run LGBTQIA+ celebration handed out honours across 10 categories, pulled in more than 2,000 public votes, and filled the room with finalists, performers and organisers who gave their time for free.
No commercial red carpet, no brand on the message. Just people recognising people.
The host who came straight from treatment
The clearest example was the man at the microphone. Tim Lai, the Gogglebox Australia personality who hosts the awards and helps run them, began cancer treatment on the Thursday before the gala and had another session on the Saturday morning, hours before the doors opened.
He still turned up, and stayed present through the night while the community looked after him. That set the tone.
What people actually felt in the room
Across attendee feedback, the same words kept coming back. People felt safe, seen and welcomed. For many, it was the first time LGBTQIA+ recognition had felt peer-led rather than handed down by an institution or a sponsor. The message all evening was simple: show up for each other.
The winners
Melbourne musician G Flip, the non-binary drummer and songwriter known to Selling Sunset viewers as Chrishell Stause’s spouse, won Performer or Artist of the Year for Music. Drag favourite Magnolia Starr took the Performance category, and Dykes on Bikes Melbourne won Inclusive Organisation of the Year plus a Special Recognition Award.
Kitty Obsidian was named First Nations LGBTQIA+ Voice and Julie Jones won Volunteer of the Year.
Why it matters now
Across Melbourne, queer cultural infrastructure is being built outside commercial and institutional frameworks, mostly by volunteers. Euphoria Social has no marketing or fundraising department, leaning on grants, community fundraising and donations. At DNA, we think that’s worth watching.
When representation is so often shaped by branding, an event owned by the community asks a fair question: what does it look like when nobody’s selling anything? On 13 June, the answer was a full room that turned out for its own.
