Wagga will feature in a new TV documentary on the city's first LGBTI Mardi Gras that will be broadcast nationally this week.
A crew from the SBS series Untold Australia filmed the lead up to the event and how it challenged the city's reputation as a conservative and largely Christian community.
"There is no doubt that rural and regional Australia has come a long way in the last decade," documentary director Catherine Scott said.
"This story really defies the stereotypes that rural folks are conservative, homophobic bigots, but at the same time acknowledges that it was not long ago when people got bullied and bashed for being gay, let alone transgender.
"Country towns can surprise us. Wagga Wagga really embraced the idea of a Mardi Gras on main street."
The episode featuring Wagga, titled 'Country Town Pride' will air at 8.30pm on Wednesday on SBS as the final episode of Untold Australia.
Wagga's Mardi Gras attracted an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people to the city's main street Parade in March.
The SBS documentary follows the story of Wagga transgender woman and truck driver Holly Conroy over a year as she plans to stage the Mardi Gras.
"The sheer enthusiasm of the town in the lead up to the Mardi Gras was incredibly heart-warming and even though there were rumours of a small religious counter protest it never amounted to anything, not even a lone person with a sign," Ms Scott said.
"I think many of us underestimate rural and regional Australia.
The documentary will be narrated by well-known actor Magda Szubanski, who has starred in some of Australia's best-loved TV shows and films including Babe, Kath and Kim, Fast Forward, D-Generation and Full Frontal.