Somewhere in the mid-1980s the idea started to get about that gays (men in particular) were a ‘high disposable income’ group. That they had money and liked to spend it. The source of this idea was the gay media, who had worked out that, in order to keep publishing, they needed income. (This was not a widely held idea in the 1970s, as a result of which most gay papers of the time went to the wall pretty quick-smart.) And while the personals were a nice little earner, the obvious source of big bucks was advertisers.

Before you knew it, we were being touted as being, in the words of one commentator, ‘as numerous as rabbits, as rich as Rockefellers, as educated as Einstein and as free with their money as Eddy and Pats’. Starting with the gay venues and ‘the less savoury end of the sex-related industry’ (the role of porn video advertising in funding the expansion of the gay press in the 1980s can hardly be overestimated), restaurants and catering, then publishing and travel, and finally real estate and residential development all piled onto the bandwagon.

Today we continue our role as trendsetters to the world. In the 1970s, the gay and lesbian community gave us disco. In the 1980s, designer drugs. Today it is the wine cooler revival. At last something our mums can thank us for!

Brought to you by the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives

In 1879, at 24, Miss Dick retired from championship swimming to run a ladies-only gymnasium in Collins Street. She continued to run her gym, which was extremely popular with members of the teaching profession, until her death in 1901 at the age of 54.  While running the gym, she taught swimming at the St Kilda Baths, the scene of her earlier swimming triumphs.

Miss Dick lived at various times in Brighton, but also took up farming at Clayton, then on the very outskirts of Melbourne, with a female companion. The two were very firm in their decision not to allow any male animals on their farm.

Miss Dick also took to prospecting and spiritualism. In the 1880s, she and her friend attended seances where a spirit by the name of “Pat” convinced them that they should drill for oil at Point Ormond in Elwood. No oil was ever found.

Brought to you by the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives

All sorts of places can be used as beats; hotels, parks, cafes, baths, dressing sheds, sections of streets or public toilets. As Garry Wotherspoon observes: “[H]omosexuals have been imaginative in creating other uses for a range of institutions … since the ways in which heterosexuals can meet each other openly are not available to homosexuals.”

Although it’s likely that Melbourne had beats almost from the very time it was founded, the city’s longest running beat seems to be the urinal at the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets, which has been in constant use since the 1860s.

Other historic beats which were active early this century include the St Kilda foreshore, the City Baths, Fitzroy Gardens, the Botanic Gardens, Exhibition and Carlton Gardens and the footpath along St Kilda Road.

Beats are often tagged with descriptive names which exhibit varying degrees of cleverness. Some Melbourne beats included “Stiffies” at the Melbourne General Cemetery, the “Flower Pot” in East Melbourne (underground with a garden bed on top of it), the “Spanish Mission” (a 1930s toilet block in St Kilda with a vaguely Spanish Mission architectural style), and the “Confessional” (this one dates from the Second World War – it  was inside a services canteen next to St Paul’s Cathedral).

Brought to you by the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives

In Melbourne, Gays and Lesbians Against Discrimination (GLAD) launched itself at the Fringe Festival parade, bringing its message to the world. Its aim was quite specific. The Victorian Labor government was starting to look at reform of its anti-discrimination laws and was committed to including sexuality within its ambit. Activists were concerned that this might not meet gay needs and were determined to get involved early. But the group, as its name suggests, was interested in a broader program as well – combating discrimination in the wider community. Perhaps its most notable work came a year or so later with the production of its wide-ranging survey of discrimination reported by lesbians and gay men, but its less visible work on lobbying and drafting mattered too.

Meanwhile, in Sydney, the AIDS crisis sparked the formation of the AIDS Campaign To Unleash Power (ACTUP). Others states followed quickly. Modelled on a US group of the same name, ACTUP wanted to tackle the complacency that was creeping into government attitudes towards AIDS issues. It opted for public defiance and emphasised activities that could capture media attention. A demo outside Parramatta Jail insisting on the provision of condoms to prisoners, a giant walking condom demanding the same from a recalcitrant Melbourne chemist, a die-in against the Olympics, five of the Stations of the Cross highlighting Catholic policy on safe sex …

Brought to you by the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives

It ran over ten days and almost as many nights. Street party, sports carnival, theatre, cabaret and film festival. A G&L studies conference; a history walk … there was something for everybody. There was even an awards night. (The Archives wasn’t nominated then either. Not that we’re bitter or anything.) Having fun was only one of the goals. Communication, launching new groups, raising our profile in the wider world, even health education – all were touted as the festival’s goals. All that was missing was the parade. Keen to avoid comparisons with that northern event, this had to wait till 1996. And even then, it was the work of Pride March, an independent organisation.

Meanwhile, in Adelaide, an event billed as the first national lesbian feminist conference since 1973’s famous Radicalesbian Sorrento event was held.  Some 400 lesbians gathered to debate, discuss and learn. Some were a bit disconcerted by the prevalence of feminist spirituality. More action, less introspection, they thought. For them there were lesbian history (Australian and international), violence between women, Jewish lesbian activism, issues of ageing. And for everybody, craft shows, entertainment, cups of tea and long raves over lunch and into the night.

Coming together was in the air in the late 1980s.

Brought to you by the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives

On 22 October the arrests began. Nine in the first week; thirteen in the second; twenty-seven in the third. By December, 130 people had been carted away and charged, surpassing even 1978’s Mardi Gras arrests in Sydney. Other market stallholders were arrested for displaying the TGLRG’s petition. Observers were arrested. Journalists were among those banned from the site. TGLRG members were threatened with arrest if they left their houses on Saturday mornings!

It was a media and political sensation. Protests and letters of support flooded in from around the world. Carloads of lesbians and gay men came from all over the state, joined by civil libertarians of all stripes. In other Australian cities, gays picketed Tasmanian Tourist Bureau offices. In the end the council caved in entirely, lifting its ban on 10 December. A week later, the police dropped all charges, when they discovered that the council had failed to provide a legal basis for trespass charges.

Brought to you by the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives

The Australian Homosexual Histories Conference has generated some pioneering and innovative work on the histories of GLBTIQ life, politics and culture in Australia – with books of selected papers published in 2000 and 2011 and podcasts in 2010 (“Into the Streets”, Sydney). The conference brings together members of the GLBTIQ communities, academics, professional and independent scholars, researchers and students within the broad field of sexuality and gender studies.

Papers at the 2012 conference will address issues including the AIDS narratives of Gary Dunne, the gay press, gay liberation, the Adelaide Homosexual Alliance, the police and homophobia in South Australia, lesbians (not) in Australian film, William Yang, the queer geography of Sydney, turn-of-the-century Queensland and Melbourne, ASIO, crime and intimacy in the colonial city, ACTUP… and much, much more.

Special mention should be made of the opening plenary: Chris Brickell from New Zealand will be speaking on his new book, Manly Affections. On Saturday, a panel of speakers will reflect upon on the 40^th anniversary of Dennis Altman’s Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation, including the author himself.

The conference costs $90 (waged) or $70 (student/unemployed) for the two days. There is a daily rate as well. We are asking people to register in advance for catering purposes (email Graham Willett: gwillett@unimelb.edu.au) and to pay upon arrival.

• Registration form and map (pdf)
• Program (pdf)

ALGA is grateful to Griffith University for providing a venue for this conference. We have an agreement with Monash University Publishing to publish a collection of papers from the conference early in 2013. Questions or queries should be addressed to the conveners— Graham Willett: gwillett@unimelb.edu.au or Yorick Smaal: y.smaal@griffith.edu.au

The 1983 public meeting that led to the formation of the Victorian AIDS Action Committee, forerunner of VAC-GMHC. Photo: James Spence

The Victorian AIDS Council–Gay Men’s Health Centre is advertising for a historian to write and produce its 30th Anniversary History. It’s proposed that a website, a DVD and, if funds permit, a booklet of 30,000 to 40,000 words be completed by July 2013 to mark the anniversary.

Expressions of interest are invited from people who have a track record of writing for history websites and/or print publications, preferably a degree in history and a good knowledge of historical research methods and sources, significant understanding of the HIV epidemic and empathy with the gay and lesbian community.

The deadline for expressions of interest is Friday 20 April. The tender document is available on VAC’s website. Initial enquiries should go to Rowena Doo, Executive Officer–Administration at the VAC–GMHC, phone (03) 9865 6730, email rowena_doo@vicaids.asn.au. ALGA members and friends are asked to circulate this call to interested people.

And by the way, the Archives would like to hear from anyone who can provide some missing information about our photo of the public meeting that led to the formation of the Victorian AIDS Action Committee (held at the Melbourne Dental Hospital, 16 June 1983).

We can identify most of the people on the stage, but does anyone recognise the man with the beard sitting second from the left? If you can help, please contact the Archives.

]]> http://www.alga.org.au/2012/1583/feed 0 http://www.alga.org.au/2012/1572 http://www.alga.org.au/2012/1572#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:21 +0000 John Waugh http://www.alga.org.au/?p=1572 Read all the news from the Archives in our latest bulletin (pdf).

]]> Read all the news from the Archives in our latest bulletin (pdf).

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