The Sydney Pride Centre was established in 1989 by PRIDE Sydney Lesbian and Gay Community Centre Limited, with a mission to 'establish a permanent community centre for the diversity of lesbians and gay men in Sydney and to build a vital, visible and positive community.' Initially focused on fundraising and establishing the right organisational framework, early fundraising parties were produced by PRIDE and in conjunction with Bacchanalia, Sweatbox, ACON and Prasit. The Founding board included Gary Cox, Adrian Gough, Gigi Legenhausen, Gillian Minnervini, Paul Nicholson, Philippa Playford, Malcolm Thorne, David Wilkins and Rob Williams. During 1994 the PRIDE Board made the decision to pursue a lease rather than purchase a building, in order to expedite the opening of a Pride Centre. The following year, on 25 June 1995, the PRIDE Centre was officially opened at 26 Hutchinson Street, Surry Hills.PRIDE Sydney Lesbian and Gay Community Centre Annual Report (1995)
/ref> Inaugural tenants included Fitness Exchange and Support of Positive Youth, who were soon joined by Alternative Networks; later tenants included Women's Liberation House, Sydney Leather Pride, The Luncheon Club, The Larder, Positive Access Program, Out & Out, Deaf Gay and Lesbian Association, Gay Freethinkers, Gay & Lesbian Martial Arts,

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (SPI), also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence (OPI), is a charitable, protest, and street performance movement that uses drag and religious imagery to satirize issues of sex, gender, and morality (particular ...

, Team Sydney and

Sydney's Pride History Group Sydney's Pride History Group was established as the first volunteer community group dedicated exclusively to preserving the history of LGBTIQ Sydney predominantly through the collection of oral history interviews. The Group's origins date from dis ...

was founded through discussions at the centre. While the centre has closed, activities like Sydney's annual pride festival carry on in a different form.Sydney Pride Festival
/ref> Sydney Pride Centre provided a physical venue at the

Erskineville Erskineville (previously known as Macdonaldtown) is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, ...

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

for the community organisations and individuals to meet, work, and socialise together until it closed in 2007.

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 The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the ...

). Sydney Pride Centre's biggest collaborative project was the annual PRIDE Week celebration, commemorating the

Stonewall Riots The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous riots and demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of ...

. With the closure of the Sydney Pride Centre, the festival continues and, in 2013, a festival was held titled "A Time to Shine". The Sydney Pride Centre also held

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

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

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.GAY AND LESBIAN HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL, GREEN PARK, SYDNEY (archival site)
/ref> Speakers at the dedication included: * Cr John Fowler, Mayor of South Sydney City Council * Luci Ellis, past president of Gay & Lesbian Holocaust Memorial Project Incorporated * John Marsden, chairperson of the Gay & Lesbian Holocaust Memorial Project Incorporated *

Justice Marcus Einfeld Marcus Richard Einfeld (born 22 September 1938) is an Australian former judge of the Federal Court of Australia and was the inaugural president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He was convicted of perjury and perverting the ...

AO QC * Lou-Anne Lind, president of the Sydney Pride Centre * Kitty Fischer, Holocaust survivor

References

External links

Sydney Pride Festival
{{coord missing, New South Wales LGBTQ community centres LGBTQ places in Australia LGBTQ culture in Sydney Organisations based in Sydney

Objectives

Working in partnership

Gay and Lesbian Holocaust Memorial Project

See also

References

External links