BREAKING THE SILENCE: RESPONDING TO SEXUAL, DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE IN LGBTQ+ COMMUNITIES For too long, sexual, domestic and family violence (SDFV) in LGBTQ+ communities was invisible. It was dismissed by mainstream services, underreported to police, and rarely discussed publicly. Yet violence can affect anyone, no matter their sexuality, gender, or family structure. Many LGBTQ+ people …
CULTURE IS HEALING: SUPPORTING LGBTQ+SB FIRST NATIONS HEALTH For generations, Indigenous voices have been silenced or ignored. Reclaiming culture and identity is not only powerful, it is political. ACON, NSW’s leading LGBTQ+ health organisation, is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQ+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy communities through programs …
FROM PROTEST TO POLICY: 40 YEARS OF POLITICAL ADVOCACY AND GOVERNMENT REFORM AT ACON ACON has never just been a service provider. From the very beginning, it has been a political voice in advocating for laws, policies and funding that improve the lives of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV.In the 1980s and ’90s …
INCLUSION IS MORE THAN A WORD: BUILDING SAFER SPACES FOR LGBTQ+ PEOPLE EVERYWHERE For LGBTQ+ people, inclusion is not just a box to tick; it means safety, respect and belonging in all areas of life. Whether at work, on the sports field, or in healthcare, being able to show up as your full self matters. …
SUPPORT WITHOUT SHAME: LGBTQ+ COMMUNITIES, SUBSTANCE USE AND HARM REDUCTION Substance use has long been part of LGBTQ+ communities experiences of connection, release, pleasure, coping and celebration. From dancefloors to lounge rooms, from survival strategies to sexual and self-expression, alcohol and other drug use takes many forms. What matters most is how we respond with …
REMEMBERING WITH LIGHT: THE LEGACY OF CANDLELIGHT MEMORIALS In the earliest years of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, long before effective treatment and widespread understanding, shame and stigma surrounded those affected. Families disowned loved ones. Governments were slow to act. The public turned away. In the face of this abandonment, LGBTQ+ communities and allies came together to grieve, remember …
AGEING WITH PRIDE: HONOURING OUR ELDERS, BUILDING OUR FUTURES For many LGBTQ+ people, ageing comes with a unique set of challenges and a profound sense of hard-won pride. Our elders lived through decades of stigma, criminalisation, police brutality, discrimination and the HIV/AIDS crisis. They survived in a world that often tried to erase, brutalise and …
JUSTICE, REMEMBERANCE AND REFORM: HONOURING LGBTQ+ COMMUNITIES IN NSW In recent years, Sydney and NSW have taken important steps toward recognising the injustices experienced by LGBTQ people, but these acknowledgements have come far too late. Throughout much of ACON’s early history, LGBTQ people lived under laws and attitudes that criminalised who they were, who they …
TRANS FUTURES: BUILDING HEALTH, EQUITY AND JUSTICE TOGETHER Trans people do and have lived on almost every continent, including this one. Australia is home to some of the longest living trans cultures on earth, and Sistergirls and Brotherboys show up in every Aboriginal nation in this country.Trans and gender diverse people have always been part …
LGBTQ+ WOMEN: VISIBILITY, HEALTH AND LEADERSHIP From the beginning, ACON has been shaped by the work, strength and leadership of LGBTQ+ women. But like in many areas of public life, the needs of women, especially lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans women, were often ignored in health policy, service design and community planning.That began to change …
