Mental health advocate Jordan Bruno wins Mr Gay Pride Australia
(Getty)
Mental health advocate and reality TV contestant Jordan Bruno has been named Mr Gay Pride Australia 2018.
The competition is designed to find and develop a future leader within the LGBTI community. Candidates for the role are chosen according to attributes such as leadership, reliability, communication, and the ability to engage with the wider LGBTI community.
Mr Gay Pride Australia is broken up into five main categories: engagement, community out-reach, public speaking, natural leadership ability, and personal character. The aim of Mr Gay Pride Australia is to produce a role model and leader for the Australian LGBTI community. Candidates are not judged on their physical appearance.
Winner Jordan Bruno is from Perth in Western Australia and was crowned by 2017 Mr Gay Pride Australia winner David Francis at the Midsumma Carnival.
Bruno has to remain fit for the Mr Gay World competition as physical appearance does count towards the final verdict (image from Jordan Bruno’s Instagram @jordanbruno.mkr)
Bruno was shocked at the win, and when accepting his sash said: “I want to thank everyone for coming out today and being a part of this amazing community it’s a real honour to represent this community.”
The road to Mr Gay Pride Australia started in 2017 for Bruno when he began advocacy work for marriage equality. He spoke at rallies, participated in fundraisers, and set up pop-up restaurants across Western Australia. All the money he raised went towards marriage equality campaigns.
One of Bruno’s deepest motivations is his mental health work. Speaking off stage after being crowned he told judge Takaya Honda: “The issue I’m definitely most passionate about is mental health in our youth sector, there are so many kids in so many difficult situations and a whole array of problems and hopefully we can work with them one on one and give them individual attention and we can solve so many issues.”
On top of working with the LGBTI community on mental health Bruno is also a chef and manages to combine his two passions. Last year he released a cookbook ‘The Gay Chef’ and donated all of the proceeds to Minus18 and Headspace. Both of these charities aim to support young people with their mental health, with Minus 18 being specifically motivated to help LGBTI youths.
In 2016 Bruno appeared on My Kitchen Rules with his mother (image from Jordan Bruno’s Instagram @jordanbruno.mkr)
Additionally, he has also opened his own LGBTI cooking school which offers LGBTI students to do different cooking classes as a way to network and meet other children in similar situations.
Bruno opened his own youth cooking school for LGBTI children to help them bond with one another and feel less alone (image from Jordan Bruno’s Instagram @jordanbruno.mkr)
He beat runners up Nicholas Steepe and Daniel Megson to take the title. Speaking of his competitors he said: “One of the highlights [of the Mr Gay Pride Australia competition] is meeting all these amazing men, they’ve all got an incredible social mission, everything is different and it gives you an idea of how far we have to go in our community.”
As part of the title of Mr Gay Pride Australia the winner represents Australia at Mr Gay World, this year held in Knysna, South Africa. The aim of Mr Gay World is to find a spokesperson who will push for global equality and change for the LGBTI community.
Australia has never placed at the Mr Gay World competition but Bruno is hoping to change that. Speaking on the Andrew and Troy show on LGBTI radio station JOY949 Bruno said: I’m going with the intention to win, I’ve done a lot of advocacy work and my heart is in the right place and I hope my credentials stand up against some of the best people in the world.”
Congratulations to Jordan Bruno on his new role as Mr Gay Pride Australia, and we wish him all the best in the Mr Gay World competition this May.
