Key Points
- A giant dress designed to bring attention to LGBTIQ+ rights is being unveiled in Sydney.
- The dress is sewn from the flags of 71 countries where being LGBTIQ+ can be punished by law.
A giant dress designed to bring attention to LGBTIQ+ rights has been unveiled in Sydney.
The Amsterdam Rainbow Dress is more than 3.5 metres high and 16 metres in diameter, and is sewn from the flags of 71 countries where being LGBTIQ+ can be punished by law.
When countries introduce more progressive laws, their national flags are replaced by rainbow flags on the garment, which functions as both a work of art and a global snapshot of restricted gay rights.
It's the first time the dress has visited Australia, with trans woman Suzy Wrong modelling it in front of Sydney Harbour on Tuesday.
Since the dress was created in 2016, its flags of Angola, Belize, India, Trinidad and Tobago, and Botswana have been replaced.
But the national flag of Chad was added to the dress after the African country criminalised homosexuality in 2017.
In August, Singapore decriminalised homosexuality, while the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis ruled laws criminalising homosexuality are unconstitutional.
The dress has been sent to Sydney ahead of a human rights conference as part of the Sydney WorldPride event, incorporating the Mardi Gras, in 2023.
Sydney WorldPride 2023 chief executive Kate Wickett said the dress is "a powerful symbol of the the very real threats" that LGBTIQ+ people face on around the world every day.
"Here in Australia, many of us are lucky now to live relatively safe lives thanks to tireless campaigning for equal rights, but there are still many issues that affect LGBTQIA+ communities right across Australia, especially for trans and gender-diverse people," she said.
