Qtopia museum to have permanent home after WorldPride

Patrons of Sydney’s first ever queer museum are shaking off the haters, with the promise of a permanent home for Qtopia as WorldPride comes to an end.

In the words of the great Taylor Swift hit, Shake It Off, ‘haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate’.

That’s the view of Qtopia Sydney patron, former High Court judge, Justice Michael Kirby, as Sydney World Pride comes to an end today.

“We’ve all got to consider what it is like to suffer discrimination and hatred and violence,” Kirby told Confidential.

“I never let them get under my skin. Hate is such a negative response and I think it is important to learn from one’s experience and try to make the world a better place, not just for gays but for everybody.”

Alongside media doyenne Ita Buttrose, Kirby has been instrumental in helping set up the first ever queer museum in the Harbour City, Qtopia Sydney.

Both the Liberal state government and Labor opposition have committed to establishing a permanent home for the museum at the old Darlinghurst Police Station site that is currently in use by the NSW Department of Health.

Sarah Murdoch and Michael Kirby at the Qtopia Sydney event held at the National Art School in Darlinghurst. Picture: Jonathan Ng

And Sarah Murdoch recently announced a $1 million dollar cash injection to Qtopia Sydney via the Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch Foundation.

The museum has been years in the making and will cover off the gamut of Australia’s rainbow history, from First Nation’s through to today and the future.

On Friday, Kirby attended an event at the National Art School, where Qtopia Sydney is currently hosting an exhibition titled Ward 17 South that honours the work, lives and legacy of those who were on the frontline of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s at St Vincent’s Hospital.

“I was pretty cautious and under the radar myself in the early days,” Kirby explained of being public with his sexuality.

“And if I had not been, the likelihood is that I would not have been appointed to the various judicial posts that came my way, that was just how it was in those days. But we’ve made progress.”

In 2019, Kirby married his then partner of 50 years, Johan van Vloten.

Rugby League great Ian Roberts (pictured right at bottom) is on the Qtopia Sydney board, alongside the likes of David Polson, John Waight, Katherine Wolfgramme and Romany Brooks.

Ian Roberts and partner Daniel Skehan at the Qtopia Sydney event. Picture: Jonathan Ng

A Qtopia Sydney Hub at Green Park, Darlinghurst, provides a taste of what is to come at the future queer museum space.

Kirby and Murdoch said ongoing financial support was crucial to the survival of the museum.

“I see this museum as a place of education, education of the dislike and prejudice that existed in the past and that still exists in many areas,” Kirby explained.

“And people telling their stories before they have moved on, those stories should be recorded because they are relevant not just to LGBTIQ+ people but they are relevant to everyone.” Both major parties have committed to funding a permanent home for Qtopia Sydney, the city’s first queer museum space.

. Dr Liz Bradshaw and John Waight at the Qtopia Sydney event held at the National Art School in Darlinghurst. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Labor leader Chris Minns has promised an investment of $3.85 million to make the museum a reality on the site of the former Darlinghurst Police Station at Taylor Square.

It is a major coup for the project, which is operating a temporary space at the Grandstand at Green Park.

“Qtopia Sydney will not only serve as a testament to the past struggles faced by the LGBTQIA+ community but also an important reminder that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity no matter their sexual orientation or beliefs,” Mr Minns said.

The NSW Coalition also pledged to ensure QTopia had a permanent home in Darlinghurst.

In unveiling its policy, it noted how it had last year established a Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ Hate Crimes.

“This demonstrates our commitment to acknowledging historical injustices and our continued support of the LGBTIQ community,” the policy said.

Qtopia Sydney has been years in the making and will cover off the gamut of Australia’s rainbow history, from first nations to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and marriage equality.

The old Darlinghurst Police Station is currently in use by the NSW Department of Health. Under the announcement, it is proposed Qtopia Sydney would take possession of the site and carry on refurbishments to enable the site to host permanent and temporary exhibitions.

In 1978, many activists marching in the first Mardi Gras were locked up at the old Darlinghurst Police Station as homosexuality was still a crime in NSW until 1984.

Last week, Sarah Murdoch announced a donation of $1 million through the Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch Foundation towards the museum.

Site of ‘great pain’ could turn into one of Sydney’s pride

By Jonathan Moran 13/2/23

The push is on to turn a site of great pain for Sydney’s queer community into one of pride.

The old Darlinghurst Police Station at Taylor Square is the proposed site for the cities first rainbow museum, Qtopia Sydney.

“We always take the pain and make it positive,” Robyn Kennedy told The Daily Telegraph.

“We are reclaiming the space. We are saying, ‘this is ours, we fought for this and we are going to tell our story’. It (the old Darlinghurst Police Station site) is the symbol of us fighting back.”

Kennedy was an original 78er, an LGBT activist who took part in the June 24, 1978, march that was the original Sydney Mardi Gras.

Many of those protesters were locked up at the Darlinghurst Police Station at that time and through the 1970s and 1980s. Homosexuality was a crime in NSW until 1984.

“It is a place of pain but it is a place of resistance,” said Kennedy, who was 24 and studying law in 1978.
“Arresting us all, 50 odd people at the first Mardi Gras did not stop us, nothing ever does, that is the point as we never give up and never turn back.”

Qtopia Sydney has been years in the making and will cover off the gamut of Australia’s rainbow history, from first nations to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and marriage equality.

Kennedy is a Qtopia Sydney board member alongside the likes of David Polson, John Waight, Katherine Wolfgramme and Ian Roberts.

She noted the museum is one of reflection, education and celebration.

“It is really important to remember the history because it was a hard slog getting to where we are now,” she explained.

“It was only five years ago that we got marriage equality. Our history is really critical because our past, our present, our future is shaped by what has gone before and you only have to look at what is going on in other places in the world to see how easy it is to turn the clock back.”

World Pride kicks off in Sydney on Friday with Qtopia Sydney hosting two exhibitions, the first being at the Bandstand at Green Park providing a taste of what the future museum will showcase.
Ward 17 South, at the National Art School, will look at the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Organisers have invited people to get involved via qtopiasydney.com.au by volunteering and sharing their stories.

PLANS FOR SYDNEY’S FIRST EVER ‘RAINBOW MUSEUM’

IT is a love letter from our past to our future – Australia’s queer history is the focus of a new museum in the works for Sydney.

Qtopia, Sydney’s first queer museum, will host two exhibitions through World Pride with plans well underway to set up a permanent space to reflect Australia’s rainbow history.

“It is about education to ensure mistakes of the past don’t reoccur,” trans advocate Katherine Wolfgramme told The Daily Telegraph.

“We must remind people what happened and also it is about keeping our history in tact. Our history has not been recorded properly and it should be archived in such a way that it has public access that is available to youth, adults, to non LGBT people.”

Former High Court judge Michael Kirby and media doyenne Ita Buttrose are Qtopia Sydney patrons while rugby league great Ian Roberts is on the 13-member board of community leaders.

David Polson, who was recently awarded an AM title, is Chair while Romany Brooks and Miss Wolfgramme are also on the board.

The museum will cover off everything from Australia’s rich first nations history, through to the original 1978 LGBT activists that marched in the first Sydney Mardi Gras, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the marriage equality debate and gender diversity.

“Rates of youth suicide and non-acceptance of sexuality is still a huge issue,” Ms Brooks noted.

“To have a museum that identifies activism, that educates on our history and also creates space for healing is incredibly important.”

Mr Polson added: “The fight is not over. The fight is going on every single day for equality. We cannot sit back and say we have got equality and same sex marriage, it is not good enough. We have got to keep going and we have got to help others around the world where queer people are being executed.”

From Friday, two exhibitions will launch in Darlinghurst, one detailing Australia’s queer histories and contemporary culture at the Qtopia Sydney Hub in the Bandstand at Green Park.

The second is based in Building 11 at the National Art School and will look at the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

“Our history is literally passed down via word of mouth like ancient cultures because we don’t have an academic record of our history,” Miss Wolfgramme said. “Our rainbow youth need to know their history so they can have roots within our community too and a sense of belonging. It is about hope as well. Kids think their struggles are hard. We (my generation) hoped for what they have now and they can hope for more than what they have by understanding our past. That way they can build our future.”

Miss Wolfgramme continued: “I also like to think of this museum as a love letter from the past to the future. This is all around our love, our right to love, all of it, the right for us to love and be loved and to share that love publicly.”

Ms Brooks invited people to get involved via qtopiasydney.com.au, by volunteering and sharing their stories.

“All of the images and stories that we will be inviting to identify will be about reflection, participation, celebrating those that fought for our rights but also to reference the history that goes back 60,000 years,” she said.

“This will ensure we have a vibrant next generation.”