Reflections on the Queer Displacements conference 2025

Earlier this month, Board Chair Ruth McNair AM represented Pride Foundation Australia (PFA) at the 2025 Queer Displacements conference.

This was the third Queer Displacements conference, coordinated by the Forcibly Displaced People Network, held in Melbourne. This followed the first in Canberra in 2019 and second in Sydney during World Pride in 2023. This is a unique event that brings together LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people, refugee advocates, peak bodies including NGOs in the refugee and LGBTIQA+ areas.

PFA was the major ‘Human Rights’ sponsor for this event for $24,000, which funded scholarships for lived experience participants. Other sponsors included ASRC, FASSTT, SSI, Switchboard, Victorian Government (Pride Events Fund) and Australian Government (Multicultural Grassroots initiatives grant).

 

Launch of a new roadmap for queer forcibly displaced people

This conference saw the launch of PFA-funded Roadmap for Action: Achieving Asylum and Migration Justice for LGBTIQA+ Forcibly Displaced People.

This roadmp was written by a coalition of about 30 individuals and organisations nationally. The panel including Dr Renee Dixson (FDPN), Maria Dimopoulos (Settlement Council of Australia), Jasmina Bajraktarevic-Hayward (Startts NSW and on PFA refugee advisory group) and Ruth McNair. Maria committed to improving the queer focus of SCOA, saying “Numbers don’t determine the value of human dignity”, to counteract a common mainstream argument against doing queer work.

 

The future of philanthropy for LGBTQIA+ forcibly displaced people

Ruth McNair presented on the role of philanthropy for queer forcibly displaced people, describing the desperate need for funding to overcome the heavy reliance on volunteerism in this sector.

There is a need to unlock funders who are reluctant at best due to their complete lack of connection and awareness of queer refugees. PFA have a strong commitment to continue funding forcibly displaced queer people in Australia as a LGBTQIA+ specific philanthropic, but also to challenge mainstream philanthropy to step up to build the funding pool.

 

Several PFA-funded projects were presented at the conference

 

This year’s Queer Displacements conference was an important event that raised the voices of LGBTIQA+ forcibly displaced people, and we are proud that Pride Foundation Australia was able to represent our focus on this work.

 

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Acknowledgement of Country

Pride Foundation Australia pays respect to the traditional custodians of the land and sea on which we live, work and play, we pay our respects to Elders past and present, acknowledging that sovereignty was never ceded.

Pride Foundation Australia commits through the resources we have available to us, to work with, for, and alongside Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander LGBTIQ+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy peoples and communities to embed a self-determined future.

We further commit the contribution of a significant proportion of grant funding received to Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and South Sea Islander LGBTIQ+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy led initiatives to improve social outcomes.

Australia was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land.