Australian actress Magda Szubanski - famous for her role in
comedy series Kath & Kim - is the latest public figure to come
out.
The 50 year-old actress did so on Australia's television's The
Project, which is part of the Network 10 station.
Her declaration was part of an argument in defense of same-sex
marriage
"All my colleagues knew, I'm sure all of you knew," she said.
"It's not like I was running around hiding it, but there's a
difference between living life openly and living life absolutely
publicly."
Fighting back tears, she added: "I love my work ... You almost
feel like you have to choose. I know you are going to ask me if it
would have been hard (to be gay and an actor), but it's only
recently that things have changed.
"It's only in the last four years things like civil unions have
been granted."
When asked by one of the presenters why she is not content with
civil unions, she said: "How do you communicate to someone what it
feels like to be on the receiving end of prejudice?"
In a separate interview on Radio station 3AW today, she told
presenter Neil Mitchell that - as a teenager - she had felt
suicidal because of the pressures of dealing with her
sexuality.
"Oh yes, yeah, absolutely,'' she said when asked if she'd ever
considered killing herself.
"People will say 'Why did I take a while to do this (come out)?'
I needed to be as solid as I could be so I could do this in the
strongest way possible and be really clear about myself."
Watch the interview below:
