Sydney LGBT Museum: Rough Justice Survivors Speak Out About Darlo Jail
Image: Member of CAMP Inc and Mardi Gras '78er Peter de Waal. Image: Ann-Marie Calilhanna.
By Barbara Karpinski
While Qtopia Ltd. is talking the talk of 鈥渃ollaboration鈥� and 鈥榮ensitivity鈥�, 78er critics talk of 鈥渁n astonishing failure to consult with the community鈥�.
A proposed site of the museum is Old Darlinghurst police station.
78er Peter Murphy, speaks out: 鈥淥ur community really wants a high-quality museum but the Qtopia project so far is an arrogant action. The proposed location is wrong.鈥�
The 鈥淥riginal 78ers Association鈥� comments: 鈥淭his is a site of routine, daily police bashings over decades 鈥� a state torture centre.鈥�
Funding Had Consultation Requirement
On April 11, 2022, the City of Sydney Council endorsed 鈥渁 proposal from Qtopia Ltd for a permanent LGBTIQI+ museum, and provided a grant of $283,500.鈥� Section 27 on 鈥淧ublic Consultation鈥� says 鈥淓xtensive public consultation has been undertaken.鈥� .
A consultation requires an advertised callout of people from diverse backgrounds. There is no doubt that Qtopia has spoken to randomly selected people from groups including 78ers but whether this meets the ethical standards for receiving such a large amount of taxpayer-funded dosh, is debatable. It鈥檚 in the public interest to know all the facts.
Qtopia could make opportunities available to all historians, artists, and activists. Key queer stakeholders must be in decision-making roles.
I was an instigator of the NSW 2016 Parliamentary apology, along with other 78ers. I am a filmmaker and have documented the abuses of Darlinghurst Police Station. These interviews were harrowing for survivors. I have witnessed survivors feinting, shaking, and sobbing when talking back to the site of their trauma.
A Royal Commission
There must be a Royal Commission as truth must be brought to power. There needs to be a full investigation into the horrors of the Darlo cop shop.
The NSW parliament apologised to the 78ers, and put some of this violence on the record, but it鈥檚 the tip of the iceberg. Darlinghurst jail is a site of horrific action against trans people, women, sex workers, First Nations people and even the homeless.聽 The bashing that Peter Murphy experienced is not an isolated event but testimonies indicate it was standard practice of the time. No police have ever been prosecuted.
It鈥檚 a travesty of justice that to add insult to injury, now this site is to be in the hands of corporate interests.
It鈥檚 vital that victims of rough policing are not handled with a tick-the-box kind of 鈥渟ensitivity鈥� as specialist skills are required in trauma-informed history collection.
Not Just Lip Service
Peter Murphy said in an interview for a documentary on the 78ers, Flipside of Flamboyance.
鈥淧olice were bashing people鈥olice battered me around the skull鈥�(Police) bashed me, and I couldn’t count how many times鈥� My body was moved around three walls of the room.鈥�
The Darlo cop shop was a site of rough justice, more rough than just, and the local community – not just the gay community – was randomly terrorised. Routinely targeted were indigenous, trans, and sex worker communities.
The copshop should be left intact as a sombre place of reflection. Qtopia and Council need to respect us as lived experience experts not just pay us lip service at Mardi Gras. 聽聽It鈥檚 our legacy.
聽This money could be used to fund documentation of abuses so that truth can finally be taken to power. It鈥檚 not the place of pink dollars to dictate the terms.
Full Accountability
It鈥檚 the 78er blood that was spilled, my tears, our collective tears. It is my teenage body that was violated, it鈥檚 our lives that were ravaged, damaged, irrevocably. This police station should be treated as a living legacy of bad history and be set up as a place of reverence where school kids can learn hard truths, in the same way as War and Holocaust museums are preserved.
The survivors should be cherished and treasured, compensated and consulted. I have lived with trauma all my adult life as a result of 1978.
Regarding the consultation process of Qtopia, only full accountability will reveal whether the process measures up to the standards of equity, diversity and inclusion, of Sydney City Council.
Alev Saracoglu from Pride in Protest says: 鈥淚n terms of community consultation, firstly that means abjectly refusing donations from Murdoch who works to undermine the queer movement … Mardi Gras should engage its huge membership and call a town hall meeting, reaching out to grassroots queer groups.鈥�
Checks And Balances
If gay groups are receiving government funds for quintessentially queer real estate, then checks and balances need to be enforced by Town Hall or funds frozen.
Given allegations and public outcry, I ask the question as to whether these gatekeepers of the taxpayer queer pie be left in charge of slicing up more of the rainbow cake.? The rest of us might be left nibbling on a mini-cupcake with only stardust for dessert, despite millions of promised government support.
It鈥檚 vital that proven practice protocols for access, diversity and inclusion be a condition of further release of funding.
I urge the Qtopia team, SCC and the Minns Labor government to investigate before it鈥檚 too late.
Barbara Karpinski is a 78er and filmmaker
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My name is Mr Rebbell Barnes I鈥檓 standing next Peter in photograph.
I鈥檓 a 78ers and was voted in by 1st 78ers as a 78er & Mardi Gras committee member.
I was 16.4month old when joined to March at Hyde Park before we marched up William Street.
I was also forced into the Police Station on the night with straight school friend.
Underaged my mother and we鈥檙e rung to come get 3 hours later.
I have problem the location of the museum.
I think its appropriate.
It鈥檚 like I feel getting back at. the police. Not a nice thing to say as I respect today what Police need to do in their daily job. I certainly would not be a Police person.
We have had the apology from the Police in the actions taken on the day and I happy with that.
I have just retired from Local Government after 44years public libraries, Customer service and Records management.
I was asked by City Archivist Janet Villata and Lord a Mayor Clover Moore if I would like the position working for City of Sydney 3 days a week working as Coordinator LGBTIQA + Collections, Archives.
So yes we do need this museum and yes I believe the location is right one.
ManybThanjs Reb Barnes
I’m not dismissing the pain expressed in the article but the quote below seems to be saying that this location should be a museum -which is what the funding is for. What is the practical, real difference between the museum being proposed and the museum the writer is asking for?
‘This police station should be treated as a living legacy of bad history and be set up as a place of reverence where school kids can learn hard truths, in the same way as War and Holocaust museums are preserved.’