Philip Diment’s work as convenor of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Project and service to the community was recognised in this year’s Queens Birthday Honours List. Alex Dunkin reports.
It has been 20 years since Philip Diment first began his work and involvement in the LGBT community and it has now culminated to being recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
The award – Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia – is in recognition of Diment’s service to the community as convener of the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt Project which, in 2011, with the help of many supporters and donors, was relocated to a permanent home in the Powerhouse Museum.
The quilt itself is an evocative record of the discovery of HIV AIDS in Australia and the destructive impact on the lives of young same-sex attracted men in the 1980s and 90s. The multi-panel quilt depicts a time when ignorance toward the gay community was rife and the mostly 20- and 30-year-old men were left isolated with little help and potentially no friends as many had already passed away.
Preserving the memory of the quilt sparked Diment into action to ensure the initial impact HIV and AIDS had on the community is not forgotten.
“What inspired me was when I saw it during the last full display at the Gay Games in 2002,” Diment tells SX. “Unless something was done, it was going to end up in someone’s garage somewhere and not secured for the future.
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