LGBT Museum Qtopia Sydney To Construct Dedicated AIDS Memorial
Image: Qtopia Sydney Facebook
LGBTQI museum Qtopia Sydney will construct a dedicated AIDS memorial to commemorate those who lost their lives to the disease.
This memorial will be five metres high and be located at the centre of the museum’s new home, the site of the old Darlinghurst Police Station.
‘Remembering Friends And Family’
According to Qtopia Sydney CEO Greg Fisher, “The five-metre-high memorial will sit within a beautifully presented solemn space – designed to memorialise and inform, with the names of those who have passed identified within the space.
“In keeping with its foundation purpose, and after much thought and careful consideration, the Board believe that our approach will be another important facet in remembering friends and family who have been lost.”
‘To Record Forever Those Whom We Loved And Lost’
The memorial will incorporate Star Observer obituaries with the names of those who lost their lives to AIDS.
Fisher explained, “With the support of community LGBTQIA+ newspaper, the Sydney Star Observer, the names of our family and friends whose deaths were announced in its classifieds all those years ago, will be uplifted and recalled forever.”
He added, “We will also have a notice on the memorial wall that offers the community the opportunity to provide additional names to be added every six months.”
Qtopia Sydney Patron Hon Michael Kirby spoke out in support of the memorial.
“I am glad that Qtopia Sydney will be establishing this memorial as an act of remembrance so that we will pay them and their partners and families respect in perpetuity.”
Kirby added, “The members attending AIDS vigils each year are declining with the passing of time. So we must add the names to this memorial at Qtopia Sydney to record forever those whom we loved and lost.”
Darlinghurst Police Station Handed Over In September
In October, Sydney-based writer and LGBTQ historian, Garry Wotherspoon, was named Lead Historian for the LGBTQI museum.
In September, The old Darlinghurst Police Station was officially handed over to LGBTQI museum Qtopia Sydney.
Qtopia Sydney is set to move into its permanent location at the Darlinghurst Police Station in February 2024.
Qtopia Sydney CEO Greg Fisher said, “In opening our doors, we will present an inaugural world-class exhibition of which the Queer community, our allies and indeed all Australians, can enjoy, learn from and embrace.”
The site of the old Darlinghurst Police Station on Forbes and Bourke Streets has an important place in the city’s queer history. The police station was once associated with the harassment and persecution of Sydney’s LGBTQI community, including 78ers.
On April 19, NSW’s new Labor government announced the former Darlinghurst police station as the permanent home for Qtopia.
