HOTA Ideas: Love on the Goldy
HOTA Gallery Public Program
Sat 13 Jun
HOTA Ideas: Love on the Goldy
Photo credit: Scott Ogier
HOTA Ideas is a forum for leading artists, thinkers and cultural practitioners to share perspectives through public lectures and in-conversation style talks.
What does love look like on the Gold Coast, in this community, at this particular moment? Presented alongside the photography exhibitions Love on the Goldy and Loving: Photographs of Men in Love 1850s-1950s, this panel brings together a group of local queer voices to speak honestly about love in all its forms - romantic, communal, platonic - and the specific experience of being queer in a city that is only just beginning to see itself reflected back. Hosted by Goldy's founder Nerida Groth, this is a conversation about longing, belonging, and what gets built when community shows up for itself.
#Speaker Bios
Nerida Groth
Nerida Groth is a producer and creative director with over two decades of experience across film, live performance, and large-scale events. With a sharp instinct for trends and pop culture, she has a gift for bringing people together through bold, community-driven activations.
As co-founder of Goldy’s, Nerida has become a key advocate for the Gold Coast’s LGBTQIA+ arts scene, using events as a platform to celebrate and empower queer voices. Under her leadership, Goldy’s has received RADF grants to deliver vibrant community productions across multiple Gold Coast locations, and in 2025 produced Wunderbar, the city’s most ambitious queer, arts party at HOTA supported by the EGC Arts Fund.
Troy Woodcroft
Troy is a veteran of the creative arts with a multifaceted international career spanning over 30 years, both in front of and behind the scenes. From playing Jonathan Drench in Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom the Musical to assistant directing on over 14 major film and TV productions. In front of the camera as Bill in Magda Szubanski's Dog Woman, or on Broadway in Mamma Mia - Troy is home wherever creativity takes him.
It is a privilege to find community. Having had a safe place to be queer, both personally and professionally, has shaped the person Troy is today. Moving home after 13 years based in New York, the creation of Goldy's has been an opportunity to build a safe, loving community where local LGBTQIA+ people can truly thrive.
Dylan Jade Rackley
Dylan Jade Rackley is a Gold Coast-based LGBTQIA+ advocate, community organiser, and social work student with decades of community work experience. A co-founder and Vice President of the Gold Coast Pride Collective and co-manager of the Gold Coast Trans and Non-Binary Group, Dylan has been a driving force in building inclusive spaces for queer communities on the Gold Coast. A former elite competitive swimmer who represented Australia internationally, she brings the same dedication and discipline to her advocacy work as she did to the pool. A trans woman committed to visibility, belonging, and the power of community-led change, Dylan is honoured to be part of the conversation that Loving inspires.
Emma Stratton
Emma (she/they) is a proud, emerging lesbian director, producer and drag artist from Yugambeh country (Gold Coast), currently based in Meanjin (Brisbane). Performing under the drag persona Dilemma, Emma is a vibrant presence in Queensland’s queer arts community, appearing at venues including The Sportsman Hotel, The Beat, and Hairy Mary’s. Her most recent venture, Clutch - a fortnightly lesbian club night they founded and produce - has inspired their debut film of the same name.
Their queerness and lesbian identity influence every aspect of their creative projects, and sharing this with audiences is something Emma hopes to continue in the years to come.
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