The tribe: this has to be a record for the most number of gingers in one place. Picture: Kimberly Gillan

The thought of being surrounded by a tribe of dopplegangers was my idea of heaven, and I watched enviously as my friends brushed their long brown or blonde locks and imagined how everything would be better if I didn’t have a flaming flare beaconing from my head.

I adored the film Pippy Longstocking, which even featured a song about a “freckle face redhead girl you wanna know”, but I knew that in my pocket of Melbourne suburbia, all a ginger mane did was draw the mean kids’ attention.

In my teens I thought hair dye would be the answer to blending in, but going brunette without learning about make-up led to a deathly pastiness. It was an important breakthrough in embracing what you’ve got – I let my hair grow back naturally and have never touched a hair dye again.

The red sea: gingers are proudly taking the power back. Picture: Kimberly Gillan

As I matured, I got on with life and stopped giving my ginger colouring any real thought - but when I heard about Melbourne’s first anti-bullying Ginger Pride Rally, I had to go along. I couldn’t die wondering what it would feel like to look like everyone else – even just for one morning.

I found my tribe on the banks of the Yarra and screamed the “Ging-er” and “Rang-a” chants at the top of my lungs in honour of my eight-year-old self-conscious self.

There was incredible camaraderie as we celebrated our uniqueness and swapped stories about the worst of the taunts we’d been called.

Red letter day: the rally had an important message about bullying. Picture: Kimberly Gillan

Cassie Warn, 26, embraces her luscious locks but, like me, she says she felt so different growing up. “When I went to Thailand people pointed at me and made monkey noises,” she says. “It’s been so great hearing everyone else’s stories.”

Belinda Free came along with her four-year-old daughter Eliza to show her how wonderful being ginger can be. “I want her to feel confident in how she looks and be proud of herself,” Belinda says.

It was also a place for swapping comebacks to the over-used redhead jokes – like the one Lee Rodgers, 36, learnt from his grandmother. “If someone called me a carrot-top she told me to tell them they’re a moron because carrot-tops are actually green,” he says.

Hair dye equals disaster for red heads. Why not be out and proud? Picture: Kimberly Gillan

Event organisers RANGA (Red and Nearly Ginger Association) have been running over-18 ginger pride events for six years but realised there was a need for an all-ages event so kids could celebrate their colouring.

“We wanted to show the pride we have as adults so the kids don’t feel too bad about it when they’re at school,” says Aaron Webb from RANGA.

Webb says a lot of people think it’s okay to have a dig at redhead people without realising how hurtful it can be.

“Ginger-ism is a real thing,” he says.

Genes do not disciminate, and neither should age. This was a rally for all ages. Picture: Kimberly Gillan

“Substitute any other minority with gingers … if they had to deal with the stereotyping and jokes we have to deal with, people would be horrified.”

But rather than wag a finger and tell people not to label gingers, Webb says we need to celebrate the uniqueness.

“Our approach is to make those labels so positive,” he says. “We don’t want to be another bleeding heart minority. We want to be proud of ourselves and achieve some solidarity and some joy and some pride.”

The event started at Melbourne’s Federation Square at 9am and will finish this afternoon with a live music performance, games and sampling.

Kimberly Gillan is a freelance journalist.