Seven special-edition rainbow Pride Seats, donated by Street Furniture Australia to the Inner West Council to celebrate marriage equality, have now been installed.
Each seat recognises a local activist who has advanced LGBTIQ human rights, equity and inclusion. They are found in the suburbs of Newtown, Rozelle, Marrickville, Leichhardt, Summer Hill and Lilyfield.
The unveiling …
The first rainbow seat, installed in Newtown, was unveiled in an emotional ceremony attended by many of the dedication nominees, their families, friends and the community.
Particularly moving speeches were given by the loved ones of those recognised posthumously.
Elder Aunty Jenny Thomsen opened the event with thoughts on rainbows as symbols of healing and love, saying the seats will “reflect light out” into the community.
“Public art is very important because it expresses who were are as a community and it makes us belong to that community. You feel happy, you feel safe, you feel as if you belong,” she said.
“Bless all you mob who have fought hard, never given up for the rights of people to live how they want to live.”
Locals gathered to celebrate the Pride Seat launch.
Mayor Darcy Byrne thanked the nominees for their work, as well as the Council selection committee, LGBTIQ working group, and Street Furniture Australia.
“Street Furniture Australia have very generously donated the rainbow seats, seven of which we will now see across the Inner West Council area,” he said.
“I’d like to thank the Council officers for the idea that we could use the opportunity of rolling out these Pride Seats to acknowledge the people who did the heavy lifting to achieve civil rights and marriage equality in this country. That has been a long and bitter struggle.”
Nominees and Councillor Pauline Lockie unveil the Pride Seat.
The dedications …
Roberta Perkins, Newtown
A trail blazer for Australian transgender people, Perkins was also an academic and writer who used her platform to fight for sex worker rights.
She established a refuge in Petersham for homeless trans people, now The Gender Centre, and was a founding member of the Australian Prostitutes Collective NSW, advocating for decriminalisation to improve lives. She passed away in June 2018.
Pride Seat dedicated to Perkins in Newtown.
Peter ‘Bon’ Bonsall-Boone and Peter de Waal, Rozelle
Bonsall-Boone and de Waal were founding members of the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) NSW, started the first gay and lesbian phone counselling service in NSW in their home and are credited with Australia’s first on-screen male same-sex kiss. They took part in the first Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978.
“My partner Bon, who passed away about eighteen months ago, and I, were together as a couple for fifty years. We started campaigning for marriage equality because we wanted it, but also we felt it was a most important thing for our community to achieve. Unfortunately Bon passed away about five months before the legislation was passed,” said de Waal.
“The appreciation shown by the Inner West Council and its community is overwhelming, thank you.”
Peter de Waal gives a speech at the Pride Seat Launch. Video: William Brougham.
Alexander ‘Lex’ Watson, Marrickville
Said to have been the face of gay activism in Sydney for many of his generation, Watson was a foundation member of CAMP, a pioneer AIDS activist, organised the first Australian gay rights demonstration and advocated for homosexual law reform and anti-discrimination legislation.
Lex passed away in 2014, and was posthumously awarded a Queen’s Birthday Honour.
The Pollys Club formed in 1964 and is said to be the longest running LGBTIQA+ social club in Australia, if not the world. They continue to raise money for charity through dances, with funds raised for men’s health, women’s health, youth health, mental health and animal welfare.
Plaister worked on the Executive of CAMP and served on the organising committee for the first Mardi Gras. She nearly lost her job as a teacher when she appeared on the front pages of the Telegraph after Mardi Gras.
She started the Lesbian Mothers’ Group in 1976 and Lesbian Teachers Group in 1978, and was portrayed in the filmRiot in 2018.
Bishop has worked for 25 years to enhance the inclusion and equity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian LGBTIQA+ community. His ongoing project, blackmardigras.net preserves the history of Indigenous involvement in Mardi Gras through stories, photographs and rare archival footage.
Timothy J Bishop with the Newtown Pride Seat.
The Feminist Bookshop, Lilyfield
Opening in 1974 and co-owned by sisters Jane Waddy, Libby Silva and Gail Hewison between 1982 and 2011, the bookshop and served as a meeting place offering advice and support to women coming out and questioning their sexuality.
“I’m very touched that we have been honoured in this way. We ran the bookshop together for 29 years. We’re very proud of the work that we did and of the community that we’re part of. Also I’d like to honour the women who started the bookshop, Julia and June,” said Hewison.
Support for The Feminist Bookshop.
The nominees …
Some of the nominees’ family, friends and colleagues also spoke of their loved ones’ contribution.
Ross Higham, also known as Rose Leaf, was represented at the ceremony by his mother. “Ross, or Rose Leaf, was very active back in the eighties, nineties, 2000s, and he raised a lot of money to help people with AIDs. He used to go the hospitals to perform. I was always very proud of him, and I’m sure he would be proud of this too,” she said.
The full list of nominees:
Alan Brotherton
Alexander ‘Lex’ Watson
FOBGAYS
Katherine Cummings
Lauren (Loz) Foy
Liz Dods
Liz Newell, Donna Ross and Maya Newell
Local Labor – Penny Sharpe, Mary O’Sullivan and Laura Wright
Major Peter McDonald Trebilco
Matthew Howard
Norrie mAy-Welby
Peter ‘Bon’ Bonsall-Boone and Peter de Waal
Rainbow Families
Roberta Perkins
Robyn Plaister
Ross Higham aka Rose Leaf
Summer Hill Rainbow Crossing
Teresa Savage
The Addison Road Community Centre
The Feminist Bookshop
The Flying Bats
The Pollys Club
Timothy J Bishop
Two Boys in Saris
Uniting
Some of the nominees and their representatives, with Mayor Darcy Byrne.
The story and contribution of each nominee is recorded on stickers on the footpath in front of the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre.
The Inner West Pride Seats are Street Furniture Australia’s Park Seats, with battens powdercoated in Lobster Red, Sensation Orange, Brilliant Yellow, Viper Green, Bondi Blue, Jaybird Blue and Dark Violet, and Telemagenta Pink frames.
Successful products are often followed by copycats. Over the past year we have become aware of an increase in reproductions of the Linea range attempting to create a similar aesthetic at a lower price. This can compromise the overall durability and environmental credentials of projects being delivered, affect ongoing maintenance requirements, and in some instances pose a risk of injury to the public. The design of Linea is deceptively simple while delivering exceptional attention to detail. Details matter not only for beauty, but also for providing durability, and safety, that will last decades. Linea strictly uses the highest quality and sustainable materials, has passed rigorous strength tests, and is designed for longevity, with easily replaceable parts. The product range is the result of hundreds of hours of research and development …
Street Furniture Australia’s entire product range and manufacturing operation has received carbon neutral certification through Climate Active™. Achieving carbon neutral certification marks a significant milestone in our operation and the culmination of a four year long process of detailed measurement and analysis. Climate Active™ is the only Australian government-backed carbon neutral certification programme for businesses to measure, reduce, and offsets their carbon emissions. It is one of the most rigorous carbon-neutral programs in the world. An approved Emissions Reduction Strategy (ERS) is central to achieving certification through Climate Active. Street Furniture Australia has elected to use SBTi validated science-based targets to ensure their ERS is meaningful and aligns with the 2015 Paris Agreement – to limit global temperature rises to 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels. For those emissions that can’t be …
Our Presentation Specialists bring a fun, interactive and informative workshop about our carbon neutral journey and latest products to your office. In 30 minutes (plus Q&A) you will explore materials and finishes, touch and feel samples, and bond with your colleagues over delicious treats in the comfort of your office. There will also be a mystery prize for a lucky winner (optional). ‘The presentation content was informative, engaging, interactive and relevant. Genuinely one of the better supplier workshops! It was efficient yet insightful. The interactive nature of it enhanced engagement with the team,’ Sam Westlake, Senior Associate, Hassell, Sydney. ‘Possibly our favourite product presentation to date! Engaging, great content and appreciated the physical samples and prototypes,’ Alexa Ongoco, Senior Landscape Architect, TCL, Brisbane. ‘Thorough presentation with actual product to see and …
Street Furniture Australia will donate five special edition rainbow Pride Seats to the Inner West Council, one for each ward, to celebrate the legalisation of marriage equality. The motion was brought to Council and championed by Councillor Pauline Lockie, with approval received at a meeting last night. “Many of our staff and our clients, particularly from the design community, are passionate about marriage equality and LGBTIQ rights, so we wanted to do our part in celebrating and recognising the recent legalisation,” says June Boxsell, Marketing Manager. “Our factory came up with a Pride Seat, made from standard parts and different powder coat colours. It looked so fantastic, we wanted to share it. “Inner West Council has a strong LGBTIQ community, with supporters and campaigners for marriage equality. We are thrilled …
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Selfie competition winners, the Merri Stationeers, are grassroots activists in creating better community public space. They won three yellow Sun Lounges for their entry, “Surfin chicks,” at This Public Life Festival of Landscape Architecture in Melbourne last year. In the lead up to our next festival pop up park (bigger and better than ever for Canberra in 2016) we check in with Jela Ivankovic-Waters to see how their mission is progressing. The Stationeers had been looking for seating for their Common in Melbourne’s north-east for more than three years, says Jela, but had not been able to afford furniture to complement their site. “The lounges add a bright spark that reflects the character of the community, not just any old furniture,” she says. “They have been used for gatherings, basking in the sun reading and …
