There can’t be many in the LGBTQI community who are not aware that the Eurovision Song Contest is back on. After its cancellation last year, this year’s contest will be held in the Dutch city of Rotterdam and for us in Australia, it all starts very early Wednesday morning and climaxes with the Grand Final from 5am this Sunday Australian time.

This year’s contest will be very different to those most would be familiar with – with a limited audience and Australia is competing remotely. Let’s hope they remember to come off mute! To get a feel of what life is like in The Netherlands for the LGBTIQA community and the impact of the Eurovision Song Contest, we spoke to Simon Timmerman, team leader of the COC Song Festival…Eurovision’s little sister song festival.