Long-time LGBT Activist & 78er Robert Fawkes Has Passed Away
Image: Image: Respect Inc / Instagram
Robert Fawkes, a 78er, stalwart activist of many decades, and pillar of both the LGBTQI+ and sex work communities has sadly passed away.
The beloved LGBTQI+ activist and advocate passed away in Townsville on Friday July 19 after battling terminal cancer.
Friends, family and loved ones say goodbye
His sister Janelle took to social media to share the news of Robert’s passing. She said he hadn’t shared his cancer diagnosis with many people, saying he “wanted to maintain some control” of the illness he faced.
“Friday morning my brother Robert/Rob/Robert0 died in Townsville hospital,” reads Janelle’s post.
“I was coming to stay with him on Thursday but he had a fall mid week and I made it on an earlier flight just in time to see him before he slipped into the coma he never came out of. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few months ago, not long after the death of our Dad.
“Robert was a 78er, a s3x werker/LGBTIQ/HIV activist in his own right well before my time.
“I was his little sister. Ten years older than me he made sure I knew from my mid teens that there were options. Communities/non-biological families/lifestyles beyond what I knew from my heteronormative regional upbringing. I have been able to be me (and out as me) because he was who he was.
“He loved music and I’ve spent this time at his bedside skipping through a playlist of his favourites. Retelling stories of a club or a dance floor in whatever city we met up in. We both travelled a lot and often shared houses in the 80s & 90s and many friends.
“He sometimes paid heavily for being himself, particularly in Townsville and other regional locations but he stayed to be close to family and friends. He loved Sydney most and spent many years living there with plans to return this year.
“His terminal cancer diagnosis changed all of our worlds. If you knew Robert and didn’t know about this before reading it here, I’m sorry. He waivered on how much he wanted shared and really just wanted to maintain some control and dignity. He had planned to use the voluntary assisted dying option later this month.
“I’ve been immersed in sadness and grief without the capacity to express much this year. For now the tears flow to be replaced with a million sweet memories of adventures together (and probably a ton of grief counselling).
“Vale Robert 💔💔💔.”
Fellow 78ers share their memories of Robert Fawkes
Barbara Karpinksi, a fellow 78er, shared their obituary of Robert with Star Observer.
In full, Karpinksi’s obit reads:
“Sadly Robert Fawkes passed last Friday July 19, 2024.
“I remember the day I first met Robert Fawkes when he came to the NSW Parliament on the day of the apology to the 78ers – February 25, 2016.
“He had a striking presence – [a] tall and hunky gay man with vibes of the early leather days.
“A staunch fighter for sex worker rights, he was a trailblazer activist for both LGBTIQ and sex worker rights. He was an active member of Respect Queensland – visibly staunchly engaged and contributing to an intergenerational fight for social justice.
“Robert was a loving brother of sister Janelle Fawkes and partner Elena Jeffreys. “He loved his life,” said Elena.
“A 78er, he proudly worked the wall in the seventies and eighties, and had some injuries from police brutality, he told me when I interviewed him in the 78er bus on the 40th anniversary.
“Robert will be sadly missed by his family, many friends and colleagues, including this writer.
“He fought for the rights of many in the queer and sex work community and exuded a beautiful presence of generosity and fought a good fight, a role model for us all.
“Robert Fawkes – a total legend.”
Sex work org Respect Inc. farewells Chairperson Robert Fawkes
Respect Inc. – a Queensland-based community organisation that supports sex workers and the sex work industry – also farewelled Robert, who was a chairperson on the organisation’s Board. Robert was a long-time sex work activist and a sex worker of more than 50 years himself.
“Robert was a pillar of the sex worker community in so called Australia, was the Chairperson of Respect Inc for many years and involved in the Management Committee right up until the end of his life,” reads the recent Respect Inc. post on social media.
“As a 78er, a proud gay man and a sex worker of over 50 years, Robert belonged to many communities and took on many worthwhile fights over his lifetime.
“Many of us benefit today from the fights that Robert, and others like him, took on. But for the past decade or so, it was the QLD sex worker community that Robert gave all his time and energy to, and we will be forever grateful to him for the work he did in advancing Respect Inc.
“He taught many of us so much, he passed on knowledge, history and stories, and he believed in us to carry the torch.
“Vale Robert.”
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I got to spend time with Roberto before he died. I was lucky and privileged. His adventures in life, he told me all about. He was a great man.