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Saturday 21st February 2026
At sunrise on Saturday 21st February 2026, Sisters Rowena Keeper of the Holy Doyley and Novice Sister Verandah Gobbie joined other members of the community at Marks Park to honour the lives taken in the wave of anti-LGBTQIA+ violence that scarred Sydney from the 1970s through the 1990s.
Along the cliffs between Bondi and Tamarama, men were targeted, bashed and in too many cases thrown to their deaths. Some of the known victims include Scott Johnson, whose death was finally recognised as a hate crime decades later, and others such as John Russell and David McGuigan. Many more families are still waiting for answers.
Community leaders and representatives from ACON and NSW Police addressed the crowd. The apology delivered by police for historic failures, and in some cases participation, was a moment that carried both grief and weight. Truth does not erase the past, but it matters.
We remember those who were lost here.
We honour the courage of those who fought for justice.
We commit to never allowing hatred to become normalised.
Memory is resistance. Visibility is protection. Love is louder.
Novice Sister Verandah Gobbie
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Sisters Present: Sister Rowena Keeper of the Holy Doyley & Novice Sister Verandah Gobbie
The Sisters would like to acknowledge and thank ACON for the use of these beautiful images.
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