Transgender air force officer Cate McGregor, the inaugural patron of the Canberra SpringOUT Pride Festival, says she hopes the event allows lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people to show a "proud and open face to the broader Canberra community".
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"It's time to be proud of ourselves but also to take stock. We've still got a long way to go," she said.
Ms McGregor said she particularly feared the ongoing debate about marriage equality was about to turn "acrimonious in the extreme" as federal politicians grappled with how to deal with the issue.
"It's going to put some of the more fragile members of our community at some risk because it's showing every sign of being very polarising and quite nasty," she said
"I think the solidarity that we can offer through events and occasions like this is important."
The festival has events over the next month, starting with a fair day on Saturday, October 31, at Westside Park Acton. Other events range from a bush dance to champagne breakfast to question and answer sessions.
Association chair Mat Knobel said he expected people from interstate to attend the festival, just like any other held in Canberra.
"The festival aims to promote diversity, equality and acceptance by offering events that cater to those across the LGBTI community," he said.
"However, we also encourage the broader Canberra community to come and experience the diverse range of events we'll have on offer this year."
Mr Noble said for the first time the festival had a theme, "ON", which had an uplifting, positive connotation.
"We're urging participants to be 'on'. To be individual. And to join in on the fun," he said.
Ms McGregor said because she started to transition from a man to a woman only four years ago, she had belatedly come to a consciousness of the LGBTIQ community and its networks.
"I'm feeling my way and to be affirmed in our community is incredibly generous," she said.
Ms McGregor said she had experienced abuse and discrimination due to being transgender but said it was only a "mild taste of what many in our community face".
She had been lucky to have a supportive employer and to work and live in Canberra.
" I think we probably live in the most LGBTIQ-friendly jurisdiction in Australia and it's in no small part [due] to having a chief minister who is openly gay and I think that's a wonderful achievement and he sets the tone here," she said.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who attended the festival launch on Thursday at Westside Park Acton, said he met his partner Anthony at the first SpringOUT festival in 1999.
"Sixteen years later he still puts up with me, so all power to the SpringOUT festival," he said.
Mr Barr thanked Ms McGregor for being a strong role model for the community and for her commitment to making "this city and this country a better place".
"Through personal leadership and through just being who you are and being proud of that," he said.
"And that is so important and is a central theme for the SpringOUT festival and what we aspire for this city...to encourage people to live full and inclusive lives in the city and that's a legacy I want to leave from my time in politics."
Mr Barr said he hoped Canberra was a "beacon" to the LGBTIQ community.
"Let this festival be a celebration of our great diversity," he said.
Mr Barr also criticised Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz for his recent comments opposing gay marriage.
"He's welcome to live in the 1950s, I don't think the rest of us need to be there with him though," he said
The full program for the festival is at springout.com.au.
