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Pride History Project

Donating Objects and Items

Helping the things we kept find a permanent home in a public collection.

Donating objects and items to public collections

Our histories are often present in the “stuff” we keep. These are the tangible remnants of past events and sometimes fading memories: brochures and flyers from a rally or Pride Fair Day; posters for a dance party, drag show or community fundraiser; the minutes or notebooks describing meetings where we planned the next rally, or dance, or book club. The box of old t-shirts and badges, or the protest placard or banner we can’t quite get rid of.

Many of these objects have a great deal to tell us about Magandjin / Brisbane’s proud LGBTQIA+ people, histories and organisations.

Brisbane Pride History Project wants to help ensure these items are cared for and available to researchers and future generations of LGBTQIA+ community members. We also want to ensure our public collections reflect the diversity of our communities, and that LGBTQIA+ communities and histories are written into the collective memory of our city and state.

In 2025, we handed our segment of Gilbert Baker’s historic 2003 Rainbow Flag to the care of Queensland Museum, and the written apology to LGBTQI+ community members from the former Queensland Police Commissioner to the State Library of Queensland. We did this to ensure these historically significant objects are cared for in appropriate environmental conditions and available for display and research purposes.

We know that so many in our community continue to care for the items and objects that paint a picture of us and our stories, past and present, and we want to help ensure those remnants of our collective story are similarly cared for and available for future generations.

We encourage you to offer objects and donations directly to any of the collecting institutions listed below. If you are unsure, you can complete the form at the bottom of this page and someone from the Pride History Project will be in touch.

While these collecting institutions cannot guarantee being able to receive all objects and items offered to them, the first step is making the offer. All object and item donations accepted by collecting institutions are subject to the processes, terms and conditions of those organisations.

State Library of Queensland

State Library of Queensland has long supported programming and research related to queer communities, including through the library’s annual Rainbow Research Fellowship. John Oxley Library at State Library of Queensland cares for many items of significance to LGBTQIA+ people and histories in Queensland, such as original copies of the Queensland Pride newspaper, and extensive personal collections of items, papers and objects from activist Shayne Wilde, artist and performer Chris Maver, and Queens Ball founder Laurie Deane (Dame Sybil Von Thorndyke).

Donate to the State Library of Queensland collection

Museum of Brisbane

Museum of Brisbane (MoB) is understood to have been the first public museum in Queensland to present an exhibition focused on LGBTQIA+ histories and culture, with the Prejudice and Pride exhibition in 2010. MoB continues to platform Brisbane’s diverse LGBTQIA+ communities and artists, including through exhibitions and collaborations with community members, such as Shimmer in 2025, which featured portraits of young people from Open Doors Youth Service pictured in sculptural costumes co-created with acclaimed queer artist Gerwyn Davies.

Offer something to the Museum of Brisbane collection

Queensland Museum

Queensland Museum’s LGBTQIA+ collection includes garments and items from the first marriage involving a same-sex couple from Queensland, and an archive of garments from groundbreaking queer fashion designer, the late Mark Wilson, and his Harry Dog label. Wilson’s designs inspired the museum’s 2025 to 2026 exhibition, Make A Scene: Fashioning Queer Identity and Club Culture in the ’90s, the first LGBTQIA+ related exhibition in the museum’s more than 160-year history.

Offer a donation to the Queensland Museum collection

Australian Queer Archives

Established in 1978, the Melbourne-based Australian Queer Archives holds Australia’s largest collection of items and materials related to Australian and international LGBTQIA+ communities and histories. AQuA actively acquires material documenting Australian lesbian, gay, trans and gender diverse, bisexual, intersex, sistergirl and brotherboy life, including organisational records and personal papers, books and magazines, audiovisual recordings, textiles (clothing, costumes, banners), photographs, posters, ephemera, objects and artworks.

Contact the Australian Queer Archives about an offer

Not sure where to offer something?

Brisbane Pride History Project is not looking to collect objects or items. Rather, we aim to help facilitate the donation of objects and items of significance to Queensland’s LGBTQIA+ communities to a suitable collection. If you are unsure where you might offer to donate objects or items, fill out the form below and someone from the team will be in touch.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
We will reply to this address.
Optional. Include the area code if you are giving a landline.
A suburb is enough at this stage. We will only ask for a full address if a collecting institution needs to arrange collection.
For example: three Pride Fair Day banners, roughly 2m by 1m each, plus a box of badges and flyers.
Optional. Naming the people, groups, publications or events involved helps an institution work out where the material fits.
Optional. Where did the items come from, and how did they come into your possession?
Drop files here or
Accepted file types: jpg, jpeg, png, heic, pdf, Max. file size: 10 MB, Max. files: 5.
    Optional. Up to 5 files, 10MB each. Accepted: JPG, PNG, HEIC, PDF. Photos taken on a phone are perfectly fine.
    Legal owner confirmation(Required)

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    We pay our respects to the traditional custodians of country and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their culture, their connection to country, and their ancestors and elders past and present. We also express our heartfelt gratitude to our pioneering founders and every individual whose activism, and advocacy have shaped our community over the years.