14 May 2025
By James Mullan
North Sydney Council will stage a major Pride Month celebration on Sunday June 1, using music, performance and digital storytelling to reflect on the queer history of the Lower North Shore. The free community event will run from 3pm to 6pm in Ted Mack Civic Park and will feature drag shows, live music, food trucks, children’s activities and a rainbow dog competition.
A centrepiece of the celebration will be projections from Stanton Library’s Mapping Queer North Sydney project—a digital archive of personal stories and community memories tied to the local area, first launched in 2023 as part of Sydney WorldPride.
The Council is promoting the event under the theme Love, Respect, Empower, and aims to spotlight both past and present experiences of the LGBTIQA+ community across key locations in the North Sydney LGA.
The stories mapped in the project span decades of queer life, ranging from joyful first dates to activism, self-realisation and landmark moments in Australia’s equality journey.
One story from Berry Island recounts a first date that turned into a decade-long relationship. Another contributor recalls attending lesbian picnics at Balls Head Reserve in the 1980s—initiated by two Waverton locals and remembered as the “Dykes and Dogs” gatherings due to the abundance of canine companions.
Some memories highlight the cultural and geographic divide between the inner city and the North Shore. One lesbian contributor described navigating to Balls Head using a street directory on her lap: “It seemed like it was in another world.” Another reflected on walking around North Sydney with a new partner—both too nervous to hold hands—describing the area at the time as “white bread and straight.”
There are also reflections tied to major national milestones. In Lavender Bay and Neutral Bay, residents shared memories of weddings held after the legalisation of same-sex marriage, including one contributor who said, “After about 12 years of lobbying for marriage equality, I married my life partner here on our 9th anniversary together. It was pure BLISS!”
The map also highlights important moments in community organising. The founding of C.A.M.P. Inc. (Campaign Against Moral Persecution) in a Milsons Point apartment in 1970 is noted as the birth of organised queer political advocacy in NSW. The group, now operating as Twenty10, continues to provide support and advocacy for LGBTIQA+ youth.
Other entries recall major events at venues like Luna Park, such as a Scissor Sisters concert in 2010 and a Violet Chachki drag show at the Big Top. The Pickled Possum in Neutral Bay is remembered for its regular queer nights in the 1990s—a rare social outlet on the North Shore at the time.
Activism also features in the project, including a protest at St Thomas’ Anglican Church in 2013 during the wedding of outspoken anti-LGBTI politician Fred Nile. A community-led “drag wedding” was staged on the street outside, with a number of couples—including one that met spontaneously on the day—joining the impromptu celebration. “I was the celebrant,” one contributor recalled. “It was a fabulous day!”
Local parks and lookouts appear throughout the map as important places of connection and self-discovery. One person recalls coming out as bisexual at the Lloyd Rees Reserve in McMahons Point; others reflect on queer youth experiences and coming-of-age moments tied to schools and neighbourhoods in St Leonards and Anzac Park.
The projections will be displayed on the exterior of Stanton Library during the event. Council has also programmed drag performances, live music, face painting, and a “rainbow dog competition” inviting pets in Pride-themed attire.
The event forms part of a broader effort by North Sydney Council to celebrate diversity and inclusion in the area and create safe spaces for the LGBTIQA+ community.
You can share your local LGBTIQA+ memories, stories and life events with others in the community here: https://yoursay.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/pride-mapping