Blue Plaques Awarded To LGBTQIA+ Icons Bobby Goldsmith and Ida Leeson

Fierce activists and community icons, Bobby Goldsmith and Ida Leeson, have been commemorated with a blue plaque, praising their actions that helped the progression of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Activists, politicians, as well as the Goldsmith and Leeson’s family and loved ones gathered for separate ceremonies to unveil the plaques on June 30.

Goldsmith’s and Leeson’s staunch and relentless activism will not only live on in the pride and progress of the LGBTQIA+ community, but will also be perpetuated on the blue plaque. For Leeson, her Blue Plaque can be found on the Mitchell Building at the State Library, and for Goldsmith, his Blue Plaque is outside the Universal nightclub, for all-night birds and ragers to see.  

Goldsmith’s Legacy is one to cement

Goldsmith’s hard-fought legacy started in Hurstville, Sydney, 1946, where he was born, growing up to be a beloved Gay rights activist.

Goldsmith marched in Sydney’s first Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 1978 and represented Australia at the inaugural 1982 San Francisco Gay Games, winning 17 of Australia’s 21 medals. Whether he was on land or water, Goldsmith charged on the frontline advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights; his actions for the LGBTQIA+ community are still felt today. 

Just months after the Gay Games, Goldsmith was diagnosed with HIV,  passing away in 1984,  his case was the first to be publicly recognised as an HIV-AIDS related illness in New South Wales. Launched in his name, the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation has become Australia’s longest-running HIV charity, providing community-based care and support to this day. 

Ida Leeson Sets Her Own Path

Ida Leeson’s success catalysed campaigns for equal workplace rights in 1932, after earning a highly respected position at the Mitchell Library. Leeson obtained this success whilst fighting systemic sexism and homophobia, becoming a beacon of hope and strength among women and the LGBTQIA+ community, as an openly gay woman. 

Leeson was not only a trailblazer for the LGBTQIA+ community, but her contributions to research, archival management, and historic preservation moulded the library’s world-leading Australian Pacific collection. 

“These blue plaques recognise two extraordinary people who have left lasting legacies in progressing women’s and gay rights, and will ensure their stories live on,” Minister for Heritage, Penny Sharpe said.

Bobby Goldsmith Foundation CEO Nick Lawson, who nominated Bobby Goldsmith, said,  “Bobby Goldsmith’s friends, especially his partner Ken, were instrumental in transforming care for people living with HIV/AIDS.

“Ida’s achievements as a feminist trailblazer living as an openly gay woman in Sydney’s inner west almost 100 years ago are truly remarkable,” said Member for Summer Hill, Jo Haylen.

The Blue Plaques program in New South Wales is a Heritage NSW initiative that shines light on thee people, places, and events that have moulded New South Wales for the better.

Initially starting in the UK, the Blue Plaques operates as a historical storyteller, creating a strong link between a person and a place, and providing the public with historical knowledge that should not be overlooked or forgotten.