“If you are gay – wear it, own it and be it,” Darr declares as he chats at Eagle Farm for Racing Queensland’s Racing with Pride series.
“You only experience that self-consciousness when you are not being who you are because you are always playing an act and being something that you are not. Just live it.”
Darr has worked in racing for the best part of 14 years and believes that the number of people who are openly gay within the industry has exploded since his early days on the Darling Downs.
He thinks that because racing is an open and accepting space for members of the LGBTIQA+ community, it allows more people to come into the sport to work in stables and feel comfortable.
“It has come a long way as I have never experienced any negativity,” Darr said.
“I have never really seen too much push back within racing in terms of homosexuality.
“In the old days you would be struggling to pick one gay person, now there are openly gay people everywhere you look in the sport.
“As an industry as a whole, there has never been that push back for the topic of homosexuality.
“It is a changing world as the gays are so out there and open these days, people are more comfortable.”
Darr grew up on the Darling Downs and that is where his journey in racing commenced.
He was studying at Warwick TAFE and was pointed in the direction of the racing industry, as a teacher noticed how well Darr interacted with horses.