Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is an Australian smash-hit classic. But the producer has cut the only Indigenous character from the stage show.

It's sad it has to be said time and time again, but Indigenous Australians are a core part of our country’s history and identity. Dumping Jimmy, from this iconic Australian story is an insult.

Big productions like Priscilla rely on good press and word of mouth. If thousands of us add our names to a headline-catching petition to the show’s producer Garry McQuinn, then together we can get him to reverse this mistake.

But we have to act now, while the show’s just starting and the media are watching.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert shouldn’t be whitewashed and purged of its Indigenous character. Sign the petition to have Jimmy, restored to the show.

Priscilla was groundbreaking in its representation of LGBTQI+ people. And in the original film, Jimmy comes to the rescue of the other characters at a key moment in the story, and editing that out sends the wrong message to hundreds of thousands of audience members.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has played right around the world in the US, Europe and South America for 10 years with Jimmy included. Earlier versions even included a full chorus line of Indigenous characters. That shouldn’t change now.

Garry McQuinn claims it’s too hard to find an Indigenous Australian actor. But the show’s a international commercial success turning a big revenue. This is too important for the producer to just give up, and with big financial resources, he doesn’t have to.

Australians are already speaking out against this white-washing. Now enough of us need to join their call.

Garry McQuinn, producer of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: apologise and restore Jimmy, the only Indigenous character in this iconic Australian movie, to future performances.

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