This week, host of The Project Hamish Macdonald has publicly confirmed his relationship with boyfriend Jacob. The 38-year-old journalist attended the GQ Gentlemen’s Ball in Melbourne on June 6, and walked hand-in-hand on the red carpet with his partner.
After the event, Macdonald shared a professional red carpet photo of the pair alongside a love heart emoji and the hashtag #GQBall.
Fans quickly left supportive comments underneath the photo, with one reading: “Congratulations on living your truth and sharing your story with this image.”
This isn’t the first time Jacob has appeared on Hamish’s social media pages. Back in April the Channel 10 host posted a selfie with the caption “Favourite human”. While Hamish has not publicly commented on his sexuality, it seems his relationship with Jacob is no secret among friends and colleagues.
Hamish is also very outspoken on LGBTQI rights, getting into a heated discussion with panellist Steve Price last year. The group discussed the Federal Government’s plans to introduce a bill to offer LGBTI students greater protection in schools.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison proposed a conscience vote on the bill, an idea which has been rejected by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who has accused the Prime Minister of “weaponising” the issue. The proposed changes would prohibit any schools from discriminating against students on the basis of their sexuality or gender.
“As far as I can work out and as far as I have been able to find, there’s not been one case of discrimination against a student because of their sexuality,” Price said. “And no teacher in an Australian private school has been sacked because they identify as being gay.”
“Then Pricey why do we need that enshrined in law? And why is it such a problem to take that out of the law?”, Hamish interjected. “I don’t think we need to change it. I think the situation is working as it is right now I mean you haven’t had…”
Speaking to GQ, Hamish said those type of discussions were important to developing and growing your own views. “As a journalist, I think it’s more important than ever to engage with and to understand people and opinions that maybe aren’t your own – or not the opinions of your audience,” he said. “Of course, we shouldn’t be giving open platforms to hate speech, that’s definitely a consideration in today’s world, but in a highly polarised political environment, you’ve got to test the arguments. You have to get politicians through and test what their proposition is.”
