Sydney Pride Centre

The Sydney Pride Centre was a non-profit organisation community centre that provided a safe, friendly, and accessible space for members of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities of Sydney.[1][2][3][4][5][6] While the Centre has closed, activities like Sydney's annual pride festival carry on in a different form.[7][8]

Sydney Pride Centre provided a physical venue at the Erskineville Town Hall for the community organisations and individuals to meet, work, and socialise together.[9]

Objectives

The objectives of the centre were managing and developing a community center in activities related to cultural development, creating access to educational activities with training opportunities, building a team spirit, and helping to promote community health and well-being.

Working in partnership

The Sydney Pride Centre established links between community groups and worked closely with other organisations for the benefit of the community. An example of this was the work done with ACON, the Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby and Queerscreen to set up the New Mardi Gras (formerly Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras).[10][11][12]

Sydney Pride Centre's biggest collaborative project was the annual PRIDE Week celebration, commemorating the Stonewall Riots. With the closure of the Sydney Pride Centre, the festival continues and, in 2013, a festival was held titled "A Time to Shine".[8]

The Sydney Pride Centre also held community forums to explore important issues and to develop ideas and projects, and when the need arose, brought together a diverse cross-section of community organizations.

Gay and Lesbian Holocaust Memorial Project

The Gay and Lesbian Holocaust Memorial Project was founded by a group of community activists. Over the years, they raised funds to build a memorial at a suitable site. With the help of South Sydney City Council, a site at Green Park in Darlinghurst was created which is known as the heart of Sydney's gay and lesbian population. Green Park is adjacent to the Jewish Museum, which ensures that the memorial retains its historic meaning.

The memorial was constructed over a period of months in 2000. Its dedication ceremony occurred on Tuesday, 27 February 2001. The memorial was then handed over to the custodianship of the Sydney Pride Centre.[13][14] Speakers at the dedication included;

See also

References

  1. ↑ Sydney PRIDE Centre. 2000, Annual report / Sydney PRIDE Centre
  2. ↑ Sydney PRIDE Centre. Rainbow connection / Sydney PRIDE Centre 2000
  3. ↑ The Future of The Sydney Priode Centre is Dim, Merryn Johns Asks Why, LOTL, Australia's Lesbian Magazine, June 2007, page 14.
  4. ↑ MINISTER MEETS LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL & TRANSGENDER COALITION | ACON | Building Our Community's Health & Wellbeing
  5. ↑ Mardi Gras | JAMES O'BRIEN
  6. ↑ Clover Moore - Independent Member for Bligh
  7. ↑ Sydney Pride in dire straights, SameSame.com.au, 17 May 2007
  8. 1 2 Sydney Pride Festival
  9. ↑ Mercury Project Discussion Central: Pride Week Revolution 2002
  10. ↑ sydney celebrates 25 years of gay and lesbian pride | Fridae
  11. ↑ Sleaze success give Mardi Gras creditors hope of cash - theage.com.au
  12. ↑ The gay rave drain - smh.com.au
  13. ↑ Memorial To Gays Persecuted By Nazis | Q News
  14. ↑ GAY AND LESBIAN HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL, GREEN PARK, SYDNEY (archival site)

External links

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