Sally Rugg is a Sydney-based LGBTIQ activist and Executive Director of Change.org. Rugg was the GetUp creative and campaigns director between 2013 – 2018. Rugg has been a public face of the "Yes" campaign in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and also campaigns for Safe Schools. Rugg is a regular media spokesperson and written commentator.
Early life
During her early years Rugg was involved in volunteering with disadvantaged young people. She then started working at the organisation GetUp, while doing her master's degree. She joined as GetUp were focusing on refugee rights and mental health. She attended events in the ACT when marriage for LGBT people was made legal for six days, which she says informed her views. Rugg was questioned on her early life in an interview with Benjamin Law.
"When I realised I was gay, I was about 19. It was honestly like this penny-drop moment, where all of a sudden everything made sense. All this information about myself – all these memories and feelings – suddenly crystallised. Retrospectively, it’s like, “Oh my god, of course.”"
Awards and recognition
Rugg has won numerous awards due to her campaigning. There is a room named after Rugg in Oxford Street, Sydney named "The Sally Rugg LGBTIQ Pride Room", which has:
In 2018, Rugg was awarded the Fbi Radio SMAC of the Year award and Strayan of the Year by Pedestrian.tv, and was a finalist for Hero of the Year at the Australian LGBTI Awards. In 2017, Sally was named among Harper’s Bazaar’s 5 Women of The Year, by Cosmopolitan magazine as one of Australia’s Most Influential LGBTIQ people, ranked first in Mammamia’s Most Powerful LGBTIQ Women list, by Amnesty International’s Top 15 Women Championing Human Rights In Australia. Sally was awarded the Young Achiever Award at the 2016 Honour Awards. Rugg was a finalist for the Honour Awards Young Achiever Award in 2015, was named among the 23 LGBT Australians to Watch in 2016 by SX Magazine and the Top 40 Under Forty by TimeOut, and won the New South Wales Honour Awards Young Achiever Award in 2016.
Media
Writing
Rugg writes regularly on activism and feminism, as well as LGBTIQ and human rights. Rugg's work has been published in media including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, Vice, Pedestrian as well as Junkee. Rugg was a contributing author for books including The Full Catastrophe, as well as Growing Up Queer in Australia,. Her first book, How Powerful We Are: Behind the scenes with one of Australia's leading activists, is a story of dirty politics, sophisticated campaigning, raw personal story and the historic social movement that achieved marriage equality.
Radio, speaking events
Rugg is a regular spokesperson at media events, and is also involved with radio, including Triple J's Hack. Her work has been described by Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Mamamia, and Elle Magazine. She speaks regularly at public events and volunteers as a youth worker at youth LGBTIQ service Twenty10. She was a leader in the marriage equality debate in Australia. She regularly speaks at events including literary events at the Sydney Opera House, as well as at the Nelson Mandela Lecture at the University of Adelaide.
Television
Rugg was a panellist on the ABC's television show Q&A. While discussing someone who plays football and was sacked due to breaching their contract, Rugg looked sideways at her guest in what has since been described in multiple media sources, as 'judging in lesbian'. The media reported that she 'patiently endured bigoted men talking on Q&A' and 'we salute her strength'.
