Qtopia Sydney

Qtopia Sydney is a museum and cultural centre in Sydney, Australia, dedicated to preserving and celebrating LGBTQIA+ history and culture.[1] Qtopia is the largest queer Museum in Australia,[2] and part of a global network of queer museums, including the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York, Schwule Museum in Berlin, Queer Britain in London, the Queer Museum in Vienna, the Tucson Gay Museum in Arizona and the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco, as well as archives like the IHLIA LGBTI Heritage in Amsterdam, the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles, the Centrum Schwule Geschichte in Cologne and Forum Queeres Archiv München.

Mission and purpose

Qtopia Sydney serves as an educational and cultural institution advocating for inclusion and fighting discrimination. The museum aims to highlight the contributions of the LGBTQIA+ community in Australia, while fostering understanding, learning and acceptance.[2]

In addition to housing exhibitions, the museum functions as a cultural and educational space with interactive programs exploring LGBTQIA+ history and contemporary issues together with schools and corporate in Sydney.[3]

History

The concept for Qtopia Sydney originated in the 1980s with professor David Cooper, who envisioned a space to honour the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS.[4] This vision was carried forward by his wife, Dorrie Cooper, and founder David Polson. Polson, one of the first men diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Australia, participated in 28 clinical trials under Professor Cooper's care, leading to ground-breaking medical advancements in HIV treatment.[5][4] The initiative gained momentum through the dedication of various community members, including the founding committee and board members, who were driven by different personal motivations - some to commemorate friends lost to AIDS,[6][7] suicide, or hate crimes,[8][9] others to create a platform for education and awareness.[10]

During the Sydney WorldPride in 2023, the museum was opened by Qtopia chief executive Greg Fisher in Green Park in Darlinghurst.[11] In 2024, Qtopia Sydney officially opened its doors in the historic Darlinghurst Police Station, which now serves as its primary location.[1][12][13]

On the other side of the former Darlinghurst gaol, just beyond its north-western wall, is the old Darlinghurst police station, a site deeply tainted by its local role in the history of queer persecution. In 2023 the government handed it over to the LGBTQ+ community to be rehabilitated as a museum and community centre under the name Qtopia.[14]

The decision to permanently house the museum in the former Darlinghurst police station remained controversial within Sydney's LGBTQIA+ community.[1] While some community representatives viewed the transfer of the building as a symbolic act of reclamation and reinterpretation, others expressed strong reservations about the use of a historically charged site. For decades, the police station was a place of systematic police violence against queer people, especially in the 1970s and 1980s.[13] In an open letter, representatives of groups such as the Original 78ers, First Mardi Gras, Mature Age Gays, 55 Unity and the Pride History Group addressed the Sydney City Council, calling for more comprehensive consultation with the community and a sensitive approach to the building's history.[1] Some survivors of the repression at the time publicly stated that they could not enter the place due to traumatic experiences.[1] Proponents of the location, on the other hand, argued that converting the police station into a queer museum could be an important step towards visibility and healing.[1] The debate about the location reflects fundamental tensions between commemoration, urban symbolic politics and the need for safe, recognised spaces for queer history and the present.[1]

Exhibitions and programs

Qtopia Sydney hosts a diverse range of exhibitions covering key aspects of LGBTQIA+ history and culture, organized into five main themes: HIV/AIDS, human rights, sexuality & identity, media representation, and First Nations stories past and present. As of June 2025, exhibitions include:

  • The Apology – A documentation of the NSW Police Force's official apology to the 78ers who participated in the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 1978.[15]
  • Crime to Freedom – A historical overview of LGBTQIA+ rights in Australia from the 1970s to today.[16]
  • HIV/AIDS Memorial – A powerful exhibition featuring personal stories and photographs related to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.[17]
  • The Underground – An exploration of cruising culture and queer sexuality in Sydney.[18]
  • Lesbians on the Loose – A retrospective on lesbian representation in Australian media.[19]
  • Sydney Star Observer – A visual chronicle of 45 years of LGBTQIA+ activism and progress.[20]

Beyond exhibitions, Qtopia Sydney offers an extensive performance program featuring theatre, comedy, music, and dance.

Additionally, Qtopia Sydney runs educational and community programs, including interactive workshops and discussions.

  • "Hoops the Bunnies" Mardi Gras Parade 2024, Designed by Kimberley Connor. Qtopia
  • Portrait of David Polson AM painted by Alun Rhys Jones for the 2023 Archibald Prize. Qtopia
  • Exhibition Text. Qtopia
  • Counter-Map, same-sex love legal. Created by Jeremy Smith 2025. Qtopia
  • The Hanky Code. Qtopia
  • The Apology, Speech by NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller from 2018. Qtopia

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g McGuigan, Nicholas; Berry, Jess (2025). "Pride of place: (re)imaging a queer Sydney after WorldPride". In Berry, Jess; Kalms, Nicole; Moore, Timothy; Bawden, Gene (eds.). Designing gender sensitive spaces for consenting cities: practices and provocations. Gender, bodies and transformation. Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 222–224. ISBN 978-1-003-56151-4.
  2. ^ a b "Qtopia Sydney". Government of New South Wales. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Programs". Qtopia Sydney. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Prominent HIV campaigner David Polson dies aged 70". ABC News. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  5. ^ "About Us". Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  6. ^ Fela, Geraldine (2024). Critical care: nurses on the frontline of Australia's AIDS crisis. Sydney, Australia: University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-76117-003-4.
  7. ^ Cook, Nick (2020). Fighting for Our Lives: The History of a Community's Response to AIDS. Sydney: NewSouth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-74223-676-6.
  8. ^ Johnson, Steve (2024). A thousand miles from care. A hunt for a brother's killer. A thirty-year quest for justice. HarperCollins. ISBN 9781460763391.
  9. ^ Callaghan, Greg (2007). Bondi Badlands: The Definitive Story of Sydney's Gay Hate Murders. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74114-619-6.
  10. ^ "About Us". Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Australia's first queer museum opens as Sydney WorldPride kicks off". ABC News. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Sydney to Transform the Former Darlinghurst Police Station Into An LGBTIQA+ Museum". Surry Hills News. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  13. ^ a b NSW Public Works (20 August 2024). "Qtopia Sydney – Former Darlinghurst Police Station". Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  14. ^ Byrne, Denis (28 January 2025), "The Economy of the Night. Fragments of Darlinghurst's Queer Heritage", Alternative Economies of Heritage (1 ed.), London: Routledge, p. 264, doi:10.4324/9781003290810-25, ISBN 978-1-003-29081-0, retrieved 11 June 2025
  15. ^ "The Apology". Qtopia Sydney. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  16. ^ "Crime To Freedom". Qtopia Sydney. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  17. ^ "HIV/AIDS Memorial". Qtopia Sydney. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  18. ^ "The Underground". Qtopia Sydney. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Lesbians on the Loose". Qtopia Sydney. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Sydney Star Observer". Qtopia Sydney. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

33°52′47″S 151°13′02″E / 33.8797°S 151.2172°E / -33.8797; 151.2172

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