Daniel Witthaus

Where were you born?

In the rough and tumble of the northern suburbs of Geelong. Dad was the local policeman, so most neighbours turned up on our doorstep at some stage. Mum cleaned and worked in factories, and taught me the art of cuppa conversations, deep listening and honouring people’s stories.

What other jobs have you had?

After a physical start mowing the lawns and ovals at the local police station and primary school, I progressed to flipping burgers at a fast food chain. From there it’s been a blur of local government youth work before taking on training roles with Kids Help Line, VicHealth and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. In recent years I’ve worked in male family violence prevention, including a stint as Victoria’s White Ribbon Day Coordinator.

What themes are recurring in your work?

The need to engage resistance, and to balance challenging it whilst also calling in allies, supporters and LGBTIQA+-curious others. Add to that the potentially transformative nature of storytelling and story sharing, and focusing on practical, everyday action that everyone can take that will quite literally change and save everyday lives, particularly LGBTIQA+ ones.

What have been the highlights of your career?

Right up there would be completing a 266-consecutive day drive around rural Australia to challenge homophobia one cuppa at a time and get a snapshot of everyday LGBTIQA+ life outside the big smoke. For almost five years I worked in developing countries as the Australian representative for GALE, the Dutch government-funded Global Alliance for LGBT Education. I was also pretty humbled to be short-listed for the 2005 Reebok International Human Rights Award.

Where have your works been published?

My second book, Beyond Priscilla is about that tour of rural Australia in my openly gay truck called Bruce. That followed my first book, Beyond ‘That’s So Gay!’, which is a practical guide for everyday teachers in schools based on almost 15 years of experience. My formally-evaluated resource for everyday classrooms, Pride & Prejudice, shifts student attitudes and behaviours (and students report it’s fun).

I’m currently completing my manuscript, Beyond Debate, which brings together I’ve learnt in engaging and challenging LGBTIQA+ resistance and LGBTIQA+ inclusion in schools and education over the last three decades.

If you didn’t blink, you wouldn’t have missed my chapter in When Our Children Come Out (2005) and a co-written article in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia (2001).

For those with an international interest, I have a chapter in the first ever Japanese textbook on LGBT education for a national teacher training program. I also sit on the editorial board for the international Journal of LGBT Youth.

What are you passionate about?

After seeing how homophobia, biphobia and transphobia manifests itself across the world, I’m heartened and humbled that sharing everyday stories can, and does, change hearts and minds in any country, culture and climate. The drive of everything I do is to give people tools, strategies and stories that they can use in their everyday lives.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

I’m semi-obsessed with tennis, and have won 6 medals at the World Out Games and Gay Games (3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze). During the three times I lived in Berlin I developed a second semi-obsession: exploring and photographing abandoned buildings, particularly in the former East.