By Sumeyya Ilanbey
11 July 2021
Hang was seven years old when she arrived in Australia with her family in 1978, part of the first wave of Vietnamese boat people seeking asylum.
For much of her life, she said, she worked hard to fit in. She perfected her English, lest her accent gave her away as a refugee.
She spun yarns of family summer camping trips, even though her parents and the three eldest children had in fact been working seven days a week to make ends meets.
She concocted elaborate stories about her Christmas celebrations, despite being Buddhi,n a board in an executive team,” Ms Vo said.
Melbourne's LGBTIQ community will take part in the annual Midsumma pride march on Sunday
“I became really good at fitting in ... [but] I also learnt fitting in eroded the sense of who I am. Here, at the Pride Centre, I can be my whole self: all the parts of me are valued, celebrated, embraced.
“The whole of me is needed here.”
Ms Vo is chair of the Victorian Pride Centre on Fitzroy Street in St Kilda, which was officially opened on Sunday afternoon, making Victoria the home of Australia’s first purpose-built community hub for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex and queer communities.
Premier Daniel Andrews marked the event by announcing $1.9 million to deliver Melbourne Pride 2021 – a one-day street party in the city’s inner north, to be held annually thereafter.
This year’s celebration will take place on December 5 to mark the 40-year anniversary of the decriminalisation of sex between men in Victoria.
“We can’t have enough of these events in our state – somewhat cheeky to announce a northern-suburbs event in the south, but we built the place and we can get away with it,” Mr Andrews said, tongue in cheek.
“To everyone who has had to hide, to everyone who has had to fear, to everyone who’s had to be not quite themselves, this is your space. Every space in Victoria is your space, because equality is not negotiable in this, the most progressive part of our nation.”
A range of LGBTIQ organisations, including Transgender Victoria, bookshop Hares and Hyenas and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, as well as the Australian Queer Archives, will be based at the Victorian Pride Centre.
Port Philip City Council donated the land on which the centre is built, while the Victorian government spent more than $25 million on the facility.
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