The Making of the Victorian Pride Centre is a thoughtfully composed and lavishly illustrated book, commissioned by independent fundraising organisation The Pride Fund, that explores the history of Victoria’s LGBTIQ+ communities and charts the conception, design, construction, and opening of Australia’s first purpose-built Pride Centre.
The book and the exhibition recognise and celebrate the social progress of LGBTIQ+ communities and the people behind the monumental Pride Centre project.
Jude Munro AO was the Inaugural Chair of the Victorian Pride Centre and is currently a Board Director of The Pride Fund. She notes that commissioning The Making of the Victorian Pride Centre was a “no-brainer”, and the book will be an essential opportunity to recognise and thank those involved in the centre’s journey so far:
“The book celebrates the work of over 150 people to fund, achieve a site, design, build, and tenant the building; an iconic, award-winning centre to bring our LGBTIQ+ community together and which provides a safe and welcoming home for us all.”
The Victorian Pride Centre has won a swag of design and architectural awards, including the 2022 Victorian Australian Institute of Architects Award for Public Architecture, the AIA National Award, and the Joint Award for Public Architecture. Still, Munro said what the building would be able to achieve in bringing so many organisations and services together for the LGBTIQ+ community was more important.
“It is just 50 years ago that all around Australia, we were arrested for being ourselves, having sex, or protesting for our rights.
“The fight for our rights continues. Young LGBTIQ+ people make up one-third of all homeless youth. Half of trans people have attempted suicide in their lifetime. The Pride Centre brings together support services and a place to celebrate our victories and remember our sometimes painful past,” she said.
Dr Buckrich echoes Jude Munro’s sentiments, paying tribute to the hard-fought victories that have led to the establishment and opening of the Victorian Pride Centre:
“This book is devoted to the extraordinary people who broke through so many seemingly impossible barriers to create one of our finest and most welcoming public buildings, where people and organisations can feel positive about their history and achievements. And, of course, the tasks that lie ahead,” she said.
“The siting of the Victorian Pride Centre in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, is also spot on. LGBTIQ+ people have been present there for decades, from Ye Olde Boys Coffee Inn at 11 Fitzroy Street, from 1937 to 1952, to the unofficial gay bars at the Prince of Wales pre-war, and later its Pokeys and Pennies night spots from the late seventies. A favourite meeting spot for members of the trans-Seahorse Club was Monroe’s restaurants at the centre’s exact location. And, of course, Fitzroy Street has hosted the annual Pride March since 1996.”
The Making of the Victorian Pride Centre is now available to order on the Victorian Pride Centre’s website à https://pridecentre.org.au/the-making-of-the-victorian-pride-centre-order-now/
RRP $50 (Softcover) $70 (Hardcover).
Dr Judith Buckrich was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1950 and emigrated to Melbourne in 1958. . She is the author of 15 books about Melbourne people and places. She has several entries in the Encyclopedia of Melbourne and Remembering Melbourne 1850 – 1960. Her book The Village of Ripponlea won a Victorian Community History Award in 2016. Acland Street: The Grand Lady of St Kilda won the 2018 Fellowship of Australian Writers (VIC) Award for non-fiction.
LOTL spoke to Judith about The Making of the Victorian Pride Centre:
