“Safe in the South-West” coordinator Lyn Eales said some LGBTIQ advocates had been working for equality for more than 15 years and were thrilled with the council’s show of leadership.

Ms Eales said young LGBTIQ people often “copped the flak” over their sexuality but remained amazing advocates for reform.

She said further community events were being planned by the LGBTIQ community in the next few weeks to ramp up the push for the legalisation of same-sex marriage. 

Long-time Warrnambool advocate for the LGBTIQ community Shane Herman said he was “overjoyed” at the flag raising.

But Mr Herman, a project worker with Safe in the South-west, said there was still a long way to go before LGBTIQ people gained equality.

He believed the legalisation of same sex marriage was “very near”.

For Tina Reilly and Clare Bishop, it was a big step forward that not only they but also their infant son would enjoy.

The Warrnambool couple said the raising of the rainbow flag this week made them feel supported.

Mr Reilly said she got emotional at the flag raising and excited for their young son.

She said the couple had encountered people who believed their son was unlucky having two mothers but the flag raising made them feel the community was “saying they are with us”.

For Emily Burleigh, of Warrnambool, the flag raising offered hope that young LGBTIQ people would no longer have to move away from rural areas to a big city to find acceptance.

“For a small town, this is a big step,” Ms Burleigh said.

Brian Keillor-Reed of Warrnambool said LGBTIQ people had been “suppressed” for a long time and the flag raising was a day of liberation.

Mr Keillor-Reed said he was not LGBTIQ but valued their way of life.

“It is real. It is something that common decency should recognise,” Mr Keillor-Reed said.

Paul Venzo, of Warrnambool, said the public show of support for the LGBTIQ comunity that the flag raising symbolised was a big boost for the health and wellbeing of the LGBTIQ community.