Brisbane Pride Launches New History Project To Preserve Brisbane’s LGBTQIA+ Stories.

Brisbane Pride is calling on the community to open their cupboards, photo albums and personal collections as part of an important new project to preserve the city’s LGBTQIA+ history.

The Brisbane Pride History Project will work to uncover, preserve and share the stories, objects and experiences that have shaped LGBTQIA+ life across Brisbane, creating what organisers hope will become a living and evolving record of the community’s history.

The initiative will officially launch at Preserving Pride, a free panel discussion being held alongside Brisbane Pride Fair Day at The Brisbane Powerhouse on Saturday, October 24.

Through oral histories, community collecting and digital storytelling, the project aims to capture parts of Brisbane’s queer history that may otherwise be at risk of disappearing.

It will also support the development of LGBTQIA+ collections within public museums, libraries and archives, while a new Brisbane Pride History page will launch on the Brisbane Pride website to provide a public home for the project.

Brisbane Pride History Project calls on community to help preserve the past

Brisbane Pride President James McCarthy said much of the city’s LGBTQIA+ history remains outside formal archives, sitting instead in the homes and personal collections of community members.

“Our community has an extraordinary history, but so much of it is hidden away in cupboards, boxes, photo albums and personal collections,” Mr McCarthy said.

“A photograph, a poster, a piece of clothing, a letter or a piece of Pride memorabilia might seem like an everyday object, but together these things tell the story of who we are, where we have come from and how our community has changed.”

The project is encouraging community members to consider the historical significance of material they may have kept over the years, including photographs, documents, posters, garments, Pride memorabilia, digital material and other objects connected to Brisbane’s LGBTQIA+ communities.

However, McCarthy said the project was about more than simply finding and preserving physical artefacts.

“This project is about preserving the people and the stories behind the objects – the activism, friendships, celebrations, struggles, creativity and community spaces that have shaped LGBTQIA+ life in Brisbane,” he said.

“We want to make sure future generations can discover and understand this history, rather than having important parts of our story disappear.”

Who gets to tell Brisbane’s LGBTQIA+ history?

Those questions will form part of the discussion at Preserving Pride, which will bring community members together with researchers and collecting professionals.

The panel will examine why LGBTQIA+ history matters, what should be preserved and how queer communities can play an active role in determining how their histories are collected, interpreted and ultimately remembered.

It will also mark the beginning of a longer process for the Brisbane Pride History Project, which organisers intend to develop through ongoing community participation.

Part of that work will involve strengthening connections between LGBTQIA+ communities and collecting institutions and identifying historically significant material that could eventually find a home in public collections.

“Brisbane’s LGBTQIA+ history belongs to the community, and the community should have a central role in deciding what is remembered and how it is remembered,” Mr McCarthy said.

“Preserving Pride is an invitation to Brisbane’s LGBTQIA+ community: have you got something that can help tell our story?”

Preserving Pride will take place from 12pm to 1pm on Saturday, October 24 at Brisbane Powerhouse as part of Brisbane Pride Fair Day.

The event is free, with bookings available through Eventbrite.