Plans for a Sydney Queer Museum Gain Momentum

LGBT museums are fast becoming a sign of a city’s willingness to honour and preserve the contribution queer people have made to the city. Melbourne recently opened the Victorian Pride Centre and New York City’s LGBTQ+ museum is scheduled to open by 2024.

Qtopia Sydney is the non-profit organisation leading the charge to establish a museum in the city before it hosts World Pride in 2023. The organisation is working with the business and non-profit community to develop a framework for the planning and operation of the museum. Hall and Wilcox are providing pro bono legal services and PricewaterhouseCoopers are working pro bono on a business plan and feasibility study. The Victorian Pride Centre has given access to its research and administrative structure while the Sydney Jewish Museum has shared details of its volunteer program.

The T2 Building and the old Darlinghurst Police Station have been identified as potential locations for the museum due to their proximity to Taylor Square. Qtopia’s Committee Chair, David Polson, asserts that Taylor Square is “the epicentre of queer life on Oxford Street. During the HIV AIDS pandemic, Oxford Street was close-by to St Vincent’s Hospital where all of us were looked after and many, many people died.”  

Qtopia’s initiative is gaining support from prominant public figures and community groups including former High Court judge Michael Kirby, publisher Ita Buttrose, LGBTQI rights advocate Ian Roberts, queer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander group BlaQ, and ACON.

The project is also gaining political support, with several mayoral candidates as well as current Lord Mayor Clover in favour of the initiative.

Moore told the Sydney Morning Herald, “While the City is not in the business of establishing and running museums ourselves, our approach is always to welcome such ideas from the community and provide support to make them a reality.”

Let’s hope Qtopia can continue the momentum and turn this support into concrete action.