Qtopia Sydney, Department of NSW partner in education programs on inclusivity, advocacy and LGBT history

Sydney’s dedicated LGBT museum, which is the largest in the world, is teaming up with the department of education to teach high school students on inclusivity, queer history and respect.

Students from Sydney Secondary College attend an excursion at Qtopia. Picture: Supplied

Sydney’s dedicated LGBT museum, which is the largest in the world, is educating high school students on inclusivity, queer history and respect, in curriculum-linked programs developed with the education department.

Qtopia, which opened in February last year at the former Darlinghurst Police Station, hosts 18 exhibitions centred on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, human rights, sexuality, media representation and First Nations stories.

In a mission to “teach young people the importance of respect, kindness, tolerance inclusion”, the museum has begun education programs for secondary students, developed over two years with the Department of Education.

So far, 1000 students from years 7-12 in both metro and rural schools, have participated as part of their learnings in Society and Culture, History, Legal Studies, PDHPE, and Family and Community studies.

Excursions cost around $20 a head for three hours, and involve engaging in exhibitions, puzzles, history lessons and hands-on activities.

Students from Sydney Secondary College attend an excursion at Qtopia. Picture: Supplied

Artistic director Carly Fisher said the programs were aimed at shaping change around “archaic attitudes”.

“We really hope that our programs lead to conversation and that conversation necessitates, change in language, change in attitude,” she said

Murat Dizdar PSM Secretary of the NSW Department of Education, gives an address at Qtopia Darlinghurst.

“We hope that particularly by starting young, the work with students as young as year seven, which is at an age when they are really starting to learn the words we don’t want them to know.”

On Wednesday, Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar PSM gave an impassioned address to educators from Catholic, private and public systems attending the information night.

Mr Dizdar said his department was “committed to partnering” with Qtopia, and would do all they could to help link their resources with school curriculum and syllabuses.

“While I’m at the helm I will drive and promote all of your offerings. I want to see the list of who attends because I wanna see the list of who doesn’t to keep pushing and promoting,” he said.

Shane Pascoe, aka drag queen Joyce Maygne, poses with his exhibit.

Kylie Minogue’s costumes on display at Qtopia.

“I don’t think it’s a tick-a-box exercise. It’s making that learning real, I want our students to be embraced to be able to celebrate who they are.”

Mr Dizdar also said the “real ground breaking work” would be reaching more isolated students in rural and regional areas, adding metropolitan schools had “absolutely no excuse to be able to come and visit”.

A teacher of an all boys school said he believed it was important for students to learn the history of LGBT communities in Sydney.

“For a lot of young people, they see colours and the rainbow flag as celebration, but don’t realise it was founded in protest,” he said

“They can come here and learn about the experiences of people from only a few decades ago.”

Similarly, project co-ordinator Rose Niven said some students were “mind blown” to learn Australia only legalised same sex marriage in 2017.

“We have young queer kids who come through and don’t even know their own history,” she said

“Let alone that in their parents’ lifetimes it was still illegal to be gay, that it was decriminalised in 1984.”

Another teacher said she believed “validating and reaffirming” the lived experiences of LGBT people reduced the scope of bullying.

“It’s about normality, that’s my take without preaching about it, but this is normal, embrace it, enjoy it,” she said

Japanese teacher Shane Pascoe, also known as drag queen Joyce Maygne who he’s been performing as for 25 years, agreed the programs were “reaffirming”.

“I think it’s really important, really special and really validating to see all these extraordinary stories here, and as a queer person you can kind of go ‘actually I’m not like this disenfranchised bullied person’,” he said.

“It’s so important for queer voices to be heard, and there are queer voices in all stories, whether it be modern history or science there are queer stories in all K-12 areas of learning which need to be told and shared.”