Darlinghurst Police Station set to turn into Sydney’s first queer museum

A 78er who recalls being bashed and bruised by police after taking part in Australia’s first Mardi Gras parade has backed ambitious plans to turn the former Darlinghurst police station into Sydney’s first permanent ‘pride museum’.

A 78er who recalls being bashed and bruised by police after taking part in Australia’s first Mardi Gras parade has backed ambitious plans to turn the former Darlinghurst Police Station into Sydney’s first ‘pride museum’.

The City of Sydney is set to pledge $285,000 to kickstart development works of adapting the former cop shop into a LGBTIQA+ museum hosting exhibitions, displays and education programs.

The project – which is spearheaded by non-for-profit organisation Qtopia – would also include a full-scale recreation of Ward 17 at St Vincent’s Hospital which was the epicentre of the Sydney’s AIDS and HIV pandemic.

Qtopia – which has high profile board members and patrons including Ita Buttrose, Michael Kirby, David Polson and Ian Roberts – is aiming for the museum to showcase Sydney’s “queer storyline from first nations people to today”.

Greg Fisher, the director of the organisation, said locating the museum in the walls of the former police station would shine a line on the building’s history including the bashings which occurred in its cells before it was shut down in the 1980s.

The former police station closed in the 1980s.

“It will showcase the journey from oppression to equality – from the time when it was illegal to be gay in Australia to the changeover time where community attitudes have led to decriminalisation and marriage equality,” he said.

“There was a lot of injustice in that property and transforming the building will support community healing – that’s why we want it.

“It will support community healing of past injustices, address these past wrongs, and celebrate the community’s resilience.”

Jim Carothers – an original member of the 78ers – has supported the plan.

Now aged 68, he recalled being one of 53 men and women arrested after participating in the first parade alongside his wife and their gay friends.

Jim Carothers has supported the proposal.

“My experience from the time was like living in a police state because of the way police were so heavy handed,” he said.

“Back then it was how they quietened people or those who resisted arrest – they knocked you senseless.

“The lockup has a very dirty history and there’s absolutely a good reason for that whole era to be remembered and honoured.

“There are people who gave up serious concessions to make the progress we now see happen – some people had to be on the front line and they were the ones who got their heads kicked in.”

Police in among gay rights protesters outside Central Court in Sydney in 1978, in the forerunner to the popular annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival.

The plan is in line with a new LGBTIQA+ planning strategy for the Oxford St precinct proposed by the council which includes heritage interpretation, cultural walking tours, and lobbying for Taylor Square to be granted a state heritage listing.

There is also a new charter proposed which could include initiatives to boost employment opportunities for LGBTIQA+ people along with diversity training for venue staff and security.

The City of Sydney said the initial $285,000 grant would cover start-up costs identified in Qtopia’s business case to begin operating the museum for at least the first year.

Qtopia director Greg Fisher.

The council is also advocating for the state government – which owns the police station currently used by NSW Health – to support the adaptation of the site.

Other features of the museum include plans to host school programs and corporate groups as well as being a “safe place for people to come and learn about their identity”.

Qtopia is aiming for an interim museum to be created in the Oxford Street precinct during Sydney WorldPride 2023 before the permanent museum is up and running.