Heaps Gay: Kat Dopper Makes Queer Culture the Life of the Party

This article is presented by Vodafone Upsiders. We profiled a bunch of young Australians who are following their passions and perfecting their pursuits outside of their day jobs. You can watch the episode featuring Kat Dopper and read our interview with her below.

Kat Dopper is the brains behind Heaps Gay—the inclusive Sydney party series and publishing platform for queer kids and their friends.

In June, she's throwing a 200-person party on top of Sydney Tower as part of Vivid. Heaps Gay is also hitting 12 country pubs in 12 months for a 'travelling gap year' to work with people around Australia to create safe spaces for their local LGBTIQ+ communities.

Dopper is on the board of Mardi Gras, and recently finished producing the FBi Radio SMAC Awards. She also works part-time as an artist rep for Red Bull's Sound Select program, and produces an event for them once a month.

We sat down with this woman of many talents to find out how she manages to juggle it all and still find time to enjoy the party.

VICE: Is there something that connects all of your side gigs?
Kat Dopper: I guess the underlying theme that ties all my work together is a passion for creating culture and spaces in Sydney. We've had the lockouts, and a lot of things have changed in terms of late-night culture here, so it's definitely about creating safe spaces for the LGBT community, but also spaces for people to go out and enjoy live music, experience art, and connect with each other.

You must get asked to consider new projects all the time. Is it ever hard to say no?
I kind of put it through the 'willanyonegiveafuck-o-meter' and if I think it's super special I will consider taking it on. Heaps Gay also does a lot of stuff with charities and organisations within the LGBT community, and I take those on when it seems like either a good fit for Heaps Gay, or is going to support, change, or help someone in some way. We'll be doing some work around trans issues this year with Trans Sydney Pride and Rainbow Families, which I am really excited about.

Tell us about the origins of Heaps Gay.
It was born from me coming back from London to Sydney and thinking that I wasn't going to meet anyone! At the time, I went out on Oxford Street to the gay clubs, and there were a couple of female focused LGBT parties, but I didn't align with these. The music wasn't up my alley and none of my friends felt welcome, so we decided to start our own party. The first event was a fundraiser for ACON. I applied for a grant and thought, 'If we get it, I will do it'. We did, so I did, and that's how Heaps Gay was born.

Why was working with charities an important focus from the start?
When we handed over a cheque for some money after that first event it sparked something in me. It always needed to be an element of Heaps Gay. I've got goosebumps talking about it, because you can help, you can do good, and it doesn't take that much effort. Working that way is good for everyone—for the group you're supporting, and for the people who get to come along because they realise they can support a cause and have fun.

What advice would you have for people who want to kick off their own event or publication?
You need to learn your skill set, so soak up as much as you can from the people around you. This is what I did as an event producer—I started as a marketing executive, so I soaked up as much info as I could from the people around me. You really need to look for the gap in the market. It's so saturated now. Ask yourself: what do you have, what is that one little thing that makes you stand out from everybody else? Finally, stay as true as possible to who you think you are or what you really love because if you're not passionate then there's no point. If you're working nine to five and you have a side project, you need to make sure you love it. Also, don't give up if you fail the first time; it's all a big fat learning.

What do you love about what you do?
Collaborating with really incredible and talented people every day inspires me to push forward, because we're creating a platform for artists to do what they want; we get to see these incredible people doing their thing and it's so great to see. I love events because it's so great to see what was just a small idea transformed into a space full of colour, love, and community. I'm also really lucky because I get to collaborate with communities and charities who work for a greater good.

How do you balance so many different things?
I just love doing interesting and new things in Sydney. That said, I am learning how to manage my time. I try not to take on too much that goes live all at once, which makes slotting things into the calendar and managing time correctly is key for me. My phone, diary, bootcamp, and girlfriend also help with that balance.

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