Since she was a teenager, Patricia Karvelas told ABC News she has always been open about her sexuality.
“I have always been open with the people I trust, and that (trust) is the key word,” Karvelas explained about telling people she was gay.
When the Greek Australian began her career in the Canberra press gallery in 2003, she was careful about who she revealed her sexuality to because she thought a number of her colleagues were unsupportive and a number of politicians were unfriendly towards gay rights.
Karvelas worked in the press gallery for ten years, first for The Australian, then for Sky News and the ABC.
She told ABC News that eventually those closest to her in the press gallery knew she was queer, and she also became comfortable disclosing her sexual orientation to politicians she deemed to be “pretty pro-gay,” such as current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“I think back on those years with a great sense of sadness… as though I’ve missed my youth, and that I wasn’t able to be my full self at work,” Karvelas told ABC News.
The journalist was concerned she would be excluded from networks, left off invites or miss out on stories, if she told everyone she way gay.
In the end, Karvelas said things did get better during her time in the press gallery. She ended up feeling comfortable taking her partner – now wife – to parliamentary balls and introduced her to prime ministers.
Now hosting Q&A on ABC TV and RN Breakfast on Radio National, Karvelas says she’s “very out” and is at a point in her life where she’s happy for anyone to know.
Source: ABC News
