Top End Pride
Your voice within our community
Northern Territory | Australia
Top End Pride
Your voice within our community
Northern Territory | Australia
About Us
Celebrating over 35 years of pride
In 1985, a group of passionate Darwinites came together to create the very first Darwin Pride Festival – promoting diversity, equality and celebrating LGBTIQ+ communities. These brave individuals shined the spotlight on issues that needed to change and celebrated what already made us shine. Over three decades on, we’re continuing what they began.
Top End Pride is run by a group of volunteers who are passionate about equality, and diversity. We meet on a monthly basis to talk about items raised to our attention, plan and coordinate events and work closely with local Government bodies to ensure we have our voices heard for future generations.
It is our mission to continue to raise awareness within our community and campaign for freedoms that will allow our people to live their lives on a genuinely equal footing.
In November 2020, members of Darwin Pride elected to change the name to Top End Pride. As a not for profit organisation dedicated to supporting our the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (GLBTQI+) community here in the Top End of the Northern Territory, our name change is reflective of the work we have done in all regions such as Darwin, Katherine and Jabiru and everywhere in between.
committee members
Chair
Vice Chair
Vice Chair
Amber Sayers - Hunt
Not sure I have any real skills to speak of ... except... being a Lesbian. 🤣 Which I started begrudgingly realizing (back then, not now) when I was about 11 or 12yrs old.
Moving on... Kirsty and I have been together since 1999, when she, as an “I’m not a lesbian, I was just attracted to Amber” kinda person jumped me at my 30th birthday party... true story!
We moved to the NT from WA in 2002 and together we partied HARD (still do occasionally) through the early 2000’s often with our very own Emma 😁...
Our daughter, Saige, finally came along in 2011, and with her in tow, we embarked on campaigning for Marriage Equality. Marriage Equality became our mission in life when Saige asked us “why we didn’t have the same surname” and then “why we weren’t allowed to get married” and we couldn’t give her an adequate definitive answer!
Thankfully, we where finally allowed to marry and did so in July 2018 at our home, 8mths after Marriage Equality passed. Saige was a vital part of our wedding... It was a huge and very expensive event but worth every cent.
Saige is a very special little person and she rules our world!
Back to me? I have lots of life experiences both amazingly awesome and some totally shit ones to draw on.
What I want to see for Pride moving forward is to reach all our Community. I know as a whole our Community, here in Darwin, are relatively close (gay boys happy to hang with gay girls) but I want us to reach all walks of our Community, it’s just trying to figure out where they are and how to engage them, thats of course if they want to.
I’ll say this though about my skills, I make a pretty good gofer and lacky! I can take instruction and lift heavy things.
Vice Chair
Vice Chair
Vice Chair
Mandy Denton
Treasurer
Vice Chair
Treasurer
Shane Henderson
Kia Ora! Great weather we're having...
Okay, so as you may have been able to tell from my introduction, I'm a half Kiwi - half Brit now living in beautiful Darwin.
I grew up in Christchurch before moving to the UK to pursue my career in the digital space. After almost 20 years in the UK, I decided in 2013 it was time for me to return to New Zealand and spend quality time with my family. This turned out to be the best decision I'd ever made as it was also then that I met my future-husband and love of my life.
We fell into the most amazing love possible with just one problem... he incessantly carried on about this city I'd never heard of called Darwin. I thought Darwin was a botanist, but as it turned out, it's also the most beautiful city I've ever seen.
Damian brought me over for a week long holiday, straight from the airport to Mindil, sipping cocktails and within 2 of those sips I was sold with the idea of moving here. A few days later into our holiday, Damian popped the big question in Kakadu National Park and I said Yes making Darwin an even more special place in my heart.
We moved here in 2019 and the rest is history. I absolutely love Darwin and wanted to be involved with the amazing LGBTQI+ community we have so that that I could help bring love and celebration to our wider community.
Secretary
Committee Member
Treasurer
Emma Young
Profile coming soon
Public Officer
Committee Member
Committee Member
Ben Herdon
Ben Herdon joined Top End Pride (then Darwin Pride) in 2018 as the treasurer and since then has been vice chair, co-chair, and chair. He is currently a general committee member. Ben’s priorities on the Pride committee include seeing engagement with and support for LGBTIQA+ people in rural and remote areas of the top end; promoting and enabling discussion around mental health concerns for LGBTIQA+ people; and “camp dogs”, with his beautiful blonde greyhound Lily being the love of his life.
Having volunteered in a range of community service organisations for more than 25 years Ben is no stranger to event hosting, strategic goal setting, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Ben has lived and worked in Western Sydney, country Tasmania, Adelaide CBD, Sunraysia Victoria, Darwin CBD and Katherine NT. He has also volunteered as a trainer for youth and social workers in the Philippines for 6 months.
Ben is employed professionally in the financial customer service industry. In 2020 Ben’s idea of a drag queen character came to life as Florence Falls of the House of Vogue Megaqueen; and Florence is keen to make some public appearances as Ben learns more of the craft. Ben and Lily live in Katherine where they enjoy dry season swims at Low Level and brunch at one of the many great cafes in town. Ben still wants to be Batman when he grows up...
Committee Member
Committee Member
Committee Member
Damian Kalinski
I made my first move to the Northern territory in 2008, to Alice Springs and then Darwin in 2009. Working within Tourism, I commenced tour guiding within the Territories fabulous National Parks including Uluru – Kata Tjuta, Kakadu and Nitmiluk. Initially the move to Alice Springs was dawning. A 21 year old gay guy set free in a small country town surrounded by desert and natural wonder. Soon I learnt Alice Springs had a very groovy GLBTQI scene and made friends with many people who all shared my interests and lifestyle. Darwin was another prime example, being welcomed not only by the LGBTQI+ community but also by the heterosexual community.
I moved to New Zealand in 2017 and flew for Air New Zealand for just under 3 years, but most importantly, met the love of his my, Shane.
Soon after, we moved back to Darwin, I popped the question in stunning Kakadu National Park and happier than ever, settled into our new life here.
In 2020 I along with Shane, joined Top End Pride to help bring people within our community come together.
"As humans we all celebrate life, in different ways. Allow us to unify with people of all ages and provide our community the true meaning of what pride is all about."