LGBTIQ

Council is working hard to promote inclusion for our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ) communities.

The Inner West occupies a central place in Australia’s LGBTIQ history.

All three of the former councils that comprise Inner West (Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville) endorse support for marriage equality and engage LGBTIQ communities in events and consultations such as the Feel the Love Mardi Gras Reception, Wear It Purple Day and an annual forum. Rainbow flags are raised every year to show support for diversity and the benefits it brings to the local community.

Inner West Council is made up of communities where there is a strong spirit of cooperation, trust and pride.

Domestic and Family Violence

ACON and the Inner West Council are seeking expressions of interest from organisations who want to improve the way they work with the LGBTIQ community. Please help us to share this opportunity.

Does your service provide support to people experiencing or using domestic and family violence (DFV)?

Are you interested in FREE training and consultancy support to ensure you are providing a best practice, inclusive service to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) community?

For more informationand to register please go here: www.acon.org.au/DFVpartnershipproject

Apply before 21/12/2018.

Feel The Love 2019

Each year Council recognises and celebrates the month of Mardi Gras through our fabulous Mardi Gras Reception in February, Feel the Love. Council also proudly opens the month of Mardi Gras by raising Rainbow Flags, street flags and banners throughout the Inner West local area. 2019 marks the seventh annual Feel the Love Reception and is organised in partnership with the Inner West Council LGBTIQ Working Group. Feel the Love 2019 will be hosted by Barbra Blacksheep and is themed Fierce, Fabulous, Free.

This year's event will showcase the fierce and fabulous community members that are giving our community the freedom to be who they are.

Join us to celebrate our community. Speakers, entertainment and refreshments provided.

Event Details

Date: Thursday 7 February 2019
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Venue: Marrickville Town Hall

Get your FREE ticket NOW

Happy Mardi Gras!

Mardi Gras Official Flag Raising Ceremony

An official Rainbow Flag Raising ceremony will be held to mark the start of the Mardi Gras celebrations.

Event Details

Date: Friday 8 February 2019
Time: 8:00am - 9:00am
Venue: Lackey Street Piazza, Summer Hill

The Crossing is available to be 'chalked in' by children, families and community members with messages of love and support.

The Rainbow flags will be flown throughout the Mardi Gras celebrations from the Piazza and several civic buildings throughout the Inner West area.

Forums

Rainbow Roundtable 2017

Members of the LGBTIQ communities came together to discuss emerging issues and talk about local initiatives. This has provided an opportunity for the local LGBTIQ community to contribute their ideas and views into Council's decision making process.

This year's Rainbow Roundtable was hosted by Jordan Raskopoulos and covered issues such as:

Bullying and Harassment
Health and Mental Health
Social Isolation
Access to appropriate services/programs

Download a copy of the Rainbow Roundtable Community Consultation Report (PDF207.9KB)

Any enquiries to Josie Leeson on: 9392 5756 or josie.leeson@innerwest.nsw.gov.au.

More about our host, Jordan Raskopoulos

Jordan is a world class comedian, actor, singer and digital content creator. She is best known for her work as the front woman for comedy rock band The Axis of Awesome.

Jordan came out as a transgender woman in February 2016 on the Axis' YouTube channel with a funny yet touching video titled What's Happened to Jordan's Beard? In the video Jordan explained the reason for her absent facial hair with grace and humour.

Since then Jordan has become a role model to young trans people. She has brought transgender issues into her comedy routines and live performances. She has promoted awareness and understanding to a broad audience through humour. Her song about the trans experience The Elephant in the Room has reached over 180,000 people online and speaks straight to the hearts of trans people and allies alike.

Jordan has written about transgender issues and spoken about her personal experience for numerous publications and media programs, including The Project, Archer Magazine and junkee.com and is an outspoken voice for trans rights and representation. She has become an inspiration to young LGBTQIA+ people by living her genuine life, openly and publicly and being an outspoken campaigner for progress and understanding.

LGBTIQ Library Collections

The Inner West Library service has developed significant collections of LGBTIQ items for our community, including fiction, non-fiction, DVD's and graphic novels. The collection is aimed at being inclusive with relevant adult non-fiction topics such as:

raising gay children
being Christian and gay
coming out
transgender teenagers
history of gay and lesbian activism in Australia and the world
HIV
bullying
gay and lesbian marriage guides
gay and lesbian parenting guides

The resources are interfiled in the collections and can be identified with a rainbow flag sticker on the spine.

For the catalogue, visit the Inner West Council Library page.

Marriage Equality

RAINBOW flag Ashfield September 2017 Inner West Council flew rainbow flags and banners from its key buildings throughout the voting period for the same-sex marriage postal survey. The flags and banners confirmed a unified commitment and served as a reminder to residents to make sure they vote and signal Council's support for marriage equality.

Council's LGBTIQ Working Group had requested flags be flown to remind people of the importance of having their say on the issue and to support diversity in our local community.

All three of the former Councils that comprise the Inner West (Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville) endorsed support for marriage equality.

Rainbow flags flew above key council buildings from 12 September - when enrolled voters started receiving their voting forms, until November 7 – when all forms were due back by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Visit www.equalitycampaign.org.au for more information on the marriage equality campaign.

Council Venues

The Inner West was the first council in Australia to offer our facilities for same sex marriages free of charge for 100 days, following the change in marriage laws. Congratulations to all who utilised this service and were joined in marriage.

If you would like information for your wedding venue, look no further!

Venue Hire Information

Pride Seats

Seven Pride Seats have been installed in the Inner West. Each Pride Seat contains a unique plaque dedicated to an Inner West Person or organisation who has campaigned for or contributed to LGBTIQ rights over the years.

A list of the recipients and their locations are below.

Recipient                                                                          Location of Pride Seat
Alexander 'Lex' Watson                                              Marrickville Road, Marrickville
The Feminist Bookshop                                             Orange Grove Plaza, Lilyfield
Roberta Perkins                                                              Australia Street, Newtown
Robyn Plaister                                                                  Norton Street, Leichhardt
The Pollys Club                                                                Marrickvillle Road, Marrickville
Timothy J Bishop                                                            Lackey Street Piazza, Summer Hill
Peter Bonsall-Boone                                                   Darling Street, Rozelle
and Peter de Waal

Vale Peter Bonsall-Boone (Bon)

Bon It is with sadness that Council notes the passing of Peter Bonsall-Boone, a tireless community volunteer and an important figure in the history of LGBTIQ rights in Sydney.

Bon was a true pioneer activist and fighter for equality who was there with his partner Peter at the very first Mardi Gras in 1978. (Bon was charged with a criminal offence after the police crackdown.)

They were proud and active members of the "78-ers" group.

Long-term residents of Balmain, Bon and Peter, were also:

Foundation members of Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP), which changed the history of homosexuality in Australia, eventually leading to homosexual law reform, anti-discrimination legislation and even the current push for marriage equality. All these advances began with CAMP.
Founders of Phone-a-Friend, the first gay and lesbian counselling service in Australia.
Active supporters of the Gay Rights Lobby.
Active members of Sydney's Pride History Group.
The first gay couple in Australia to kiss on TV, when they featured on ABC TV's Chequerboard in 1972.

Bon was also:

Principal co-ordinator and trainer with Community Support Network (CSN) which was set up in response to the AIDS crisis. CSN was eventually folded into the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON).
A much-beloved reader on Radio for the Print Handicapped (2RPH) for over 30 years.
An active Christian and organise of some skill, playing and acting as choir master at various churches from 1953.

Bon, who passed away on Friday 19 May 2017, was sad he and his partner of 50 years were never able to wed. Not long before he died he said, "It looks like we missed the boat".

Volunteers

LGBTIQ Working Group

From left to right: Curtis Dickson, Margaret Bernard, Teresa Savage, Laurel Walter, Richard Pearson (Inner West Council Administrator), Judi Muller (away)

Congratulations to the Feel the Love 2017 - LGBTIQ Working Group for their contribution to the Inner West LGBTIQ community. They were recently awarded the 'Volunteer Team/Group of the Year' award at the Amy Large Volunteer Awards. If you're interested in joining the award winning group to assist with future events and programs, please get in touch.