The Greens campaign on a gay hook-up app, a rainbow sticker graces the window of the Liberal MP's office and the Labor candidate is openly gay.
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The state seat of Prahran is in Melbourne's queer epicentre so it's no surprise that political parties court the so-called "pink vote".
Aaron Rowlands, who has lived in what he calls the "gay ghetto" for two years, casts one of these votes.
The 36-year-old Prahran resident was drawn to the area for work, and has stayed for its vibrancy and community.
Rowlands - who runs an entertainment trades website and is the business development manager at ACMI - says it's simplistic to assume gay people vote on gay issues.
"I am very community-focused about how I vote. I don't have any dependents, I have a good job, I earn decent money but I see people around me who get ignored."
With less than two months before the state election, health and a new high school for Prahran top Rowlands' list of priorities.
He's also concerned about the prevalence of the drug ice, particularly in the gay community and says he will vote for Labor candidate Neil Pharaoh.
It's a unique marginal seat, held by Liberal Clem Newton-Brown by 4.7 per cent, where many traditionally non-Liberal issues play out.
The lack of a public secondary school is one of these with Newton-Brown campaigning heavily on the Napthine government's April announcement it would commit $20 million for a new school. A preferred site for the school will be unveiled in weeks, and it's hoped the first intake of year 7s will start at the school in 2016.
Residents are also concerned about planning decisions ("too many towers, wrong zoning, not enough green parks"), traffic congestion and crowded trains.
While Prahran is Victoria's smallest seat - taking in South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor and parts of St Kilda, St Kilda East and Toorak - it's also one of the most diverse.
The yellow and green W-Class trams on Chapel Street rattle past al fresco diners in South Yarra, the looming housing estate high-rises in Prahran, trendy Windsor cafes, and into the Jewish neighbourhood of St Kilda East.
The latest census data shows that 6.6 per cent of Prahran couples are same-sex and 6.4 per cent in Windsor - numbers that could be crucial in a marginal seat. Given that the overall result of the state election is expected to be tight, retaining Prahran is vital for the Liberal Party.
The Liberals are pouring a lot of resources into the electorate - with huge billboards on Punt Road spruiking clearways to ease congestion part of the strategy - and are confident they will win. Securing the "pink vote" is clearly part of the plan.
Newton-Brown has been described as the Liberals' "hardest working MP", with some sources saying he has to expend the extra energy to compensate for "hard right" elements of his party.
He lists changing the state's Crime Act to remove discrimination against people with HIV and expunging historical gay sex convictions as some of his biggest achievements since being elected in 2010. He made the announcement at the annual Midsumma gay and lesbian festival where he was joined by Premier Denis Napthine - the first state Premier to attend the event.
His second Facebook page (titled "Clem Newton-Brown MP supports marriage equality") tells voters he's excited to be a finalist in the "straight ally" category of the Globe Awards, which recognise achievements in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Intersex and Transgender community.
But he says the LGBTI community do not vote as a bloc.
"The LGBTI community also wants the state government to deliver on public transport, traffic congestion, education, health and planning," Newton-Brown says.
"I believe that the whole Prahran community as well as the LGBTI community wants a local member who will stand up against discrimination whoever it may be directed at."
Labor critics call Newton-Brown the "lion on Chapel Street but the lamb on Spring Street", claiming the 47-year-old says one thing to his parliamentary mates but another to his Prahran constituents. His decision to vote with his colleagues on legislation allowing religious groups and schools to discriminate on the basis of a person's sexuality, continues to muddy his standing among some in the LGBTI community. Newton-Brown argues that the legislation allows for exemptions for a variety of groups, including the LGBTI community. "An LGBTI helpline should be able to employ LGBTI telephone operators."
It's an issue raised by Labor candidate Neil Pharaoh, who is the former national convener of Rainbow Labor and led a campaign for the ALP to change its national platform on same-sex marriage.
"He claims to be a friend of the LGBTI community and yet he voted twice for the equal opportunity law changes [the government] brought in that allowed you to effectively sack a gay gardener in a Catholic school."
In February, the 30-year-old quit his job as director of partnerships at the Foundation for Young Australians to campaign, and he says it's time for an openly LGBTI candidate to be elected to the lower house.
"I think there is an important diversity and a symbolic step in that as well. A lot of young people have emailed me and said it's really great that you're standing and you're open about it."
Bullying in schools, marriage equality, discrimination, and adoption are all issues that resonate strongly in the local LGBTI community, he says. But Pharaoh's campaign is focused on much broader issues, including liveability, education, transport and health.
Labor has announced that if it wins, every public high school will have programs to tackle homophobia. All candidates support same-sex marriage and the ALP, and Greens have party platforms that support same-sex couples adopting children.
The Greens polled just under 20 per cent of the primary vote in 2010 and their candidate Sam Hibbins thinks he's in with a chance.
In what is believed to be an Australian first, Hibbins has launched ads on popular gay hook-up app Grindr. The Stonnington councillor is running a "grassroots people-powered campaign" that has already involved knocking on more than 6000 doors.
The 32-year-old says he's trying to appeal to all voters and the Greens have a good record on LGBTI issues. He points out that the party was supportive of gay marriage long before it was popular in the broader community. "The Liberals and Labor have a long way to go in terms of having a consistent message on the issues that affect the gay community. A lot of non-gay people are persuaded by these issues."
On Saturday night he will meet and greet voters with Greens senator Scott Ludlum at the Exchange, a popular South Yarra bar for gay clubbers. And next week he will be joined at the club with senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
Before Newton-Brown, Labor's Tony Lupton held the seat for eight years.
Holding onto the inner-city is never taken for granted, with MPs constantly having to introduce themselves to swathes of new voters due to the high churn of residents moving in and out of the seat's many apartments.
Victorian Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convenor Anna Brown says the battle for Prahran is not about the sexuality of the candidate, but rather their passion to deliver outcomes for the LGBTI community, as well as state-wide policies.
"However, there is every reason that our Parliament needs to be more representative of the diversity of our community, and the fact that we have no current parliamentarian who publicly identifies as LGBTI will be a factor for some voters, including our straight allies."
