#australian queer history

[queerasfact]

Nellie Small (right in both pictures) met Edith Meggitt in Sydney in the late 1920s. At the time, Nellie was an out-of-work performer, making ends meet working as a caretaker in a block of flats and running a private library out of her home. Edith was a housewife raising two young children.

The two women immediately became close, and not long after that first chance meeting, Nellie moved in with Edith and her family. She lived with the Meggitts for the rest of her life.

Nellie went on to become a successful male impersonator, recognised throughout Australia as one of the country's best jazz singers, while Edith supported her from the front row of every show, and picked out her socks and ties behind the scenes.

Learn more about Nellie and Edith

[Image source: State Library New South Wales]

[userdocumentary]

QUEERSTRALIA (2022) Episode 1 dir. Stamatia Maroupas

[asynca]

Anyone who’s interested in ‘Australia’s Stonewall Moment’ will be interested in reading about the ‘78ers: the first marchers in what they coined the ‘Mardi Gras’ which turned violent after police blocked them off and began to violently arrest people. 

Tonight, 45 years later, Sydney hosts World Pride 2023 and the 45th Mardi Gras parade and it’s a huge celebrated event. 

We’ve got a long way to go - but we also need to celebrate our tenacity, our survival and how far we’ve come. 

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 30: Murder and

Disappearance Edition III

Given that Roanoke and the Dyatlov Pass Incident are credibly solved, though not 100% provable, I'm leaving them out in favor of things more mysterious. I almost left out Amelia Earhart from a previous edition, but the evidence there is sketchier.

No, I'm not doing JFK. I refuse.

Please add new suggestions below, if you have them, for future consideration.

[jay-wasreblogging]

AN UPDATE TO THE PETITION OF IMPLEMENTING CLARE'S LAW (DVDS) ACROSS ALL STATES AND TERRITORIES IN AUSTRALIA - ITS BEEN SUBMITTED TO PARLIAMENT!!!

PLEASE SIGN IT IF YOU'RE AUSTRALIAN!!!

(a law that would require the disclosure of an individual's violent history to potential partners - more info below)

Samantha Cox, who started the petition updates below

Dear valued petition signers,

I am pleased to inform you that our petition to initiate Clare's Law, a domestic violence disclosure scheme, has now been officially submitted to the Parliament of Australia. I want to thank each and every one of you for your ongoing support and dedication to this important cause. Your voices have not gone unheard, and we are one step closer to making a real difference in the fight against domestic violence. As the petition is presented to the House of Representatives on the 11th of September 2024, I urge you to continue your support by signing and sharing the new petition. Together, we can make a lasting impact and ensure the safety of individuals affected by domestic violence. Thank you again for your unwavering commitment.

The new petition can be accessed via the link below of by going to the Australian Parliament House website and searching for e-petition EN6437.

Sincerely,

Samantha Cox

[bibuckleykinard]

how many times do we need to learn as people that irony and hyperbole can be harmful because 'jokes' aren't easily distinguished from genuine thoughts and feelings until we stop rewarding people for speaking or posting about violence

like even if you're joking/don't actually believe that/think whoever you are insulting is bad/immoral/fictional therefore deserves it - ad hominem attacks always do more harm to the people who share those characteristic then the individual you intend to cause harm to or discredit

[archival-dodger]

Tonight marks the 45th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, one of the seminal moments in Australian queer history. Unfortunately— and in part because of the dominance of (US) American pride discourses, in part because of the transition of the parade from protest to celebration— there’s a general tendency to merely view Mardi Gras as ‘our Stonewall’ without understanding the broader context of Australian histories of sexuality and gender, or recognising the significant differences between Stonewall and Mardi Gras.

This year, I’m marking Mardi Gras by posting three excellent, accessible, and historically informed pieces on what happened on 24 June, 1978 & a piece about life for lgbtq+ elders, some of whom discuss the climate of the 70s and 80s:

ABC’s investigative, multimedia report on the 1st Mardi Gras— featuring interviews with the 78ers.

Sydney’s Mardi Gras: 40 Years of Pride and Protest— in pictures— Text by Nick Henderson, of the Australian Queer Archives.

The joy is waking up and liking who you are— Interviews with 6 lgbt+ elders, on their experiences growing up and growing to love who they are now.

It’s also worth noting that the ABC is airing a series on Australian queer history— Queerstralia— from Tuesday next week. Again, the Australian Queer Archives were one of the groups deeply involved in this, and I’m confident that it will be a genuine contribution to the public history of queer Australia.

Happy World Pride, and Happy Mardi Gras!

[oranglesswrld]

so did anyone else know about the gay lesbian kingdom of the coral sea islands off the coast of queensland. bc i only found out today

[helenhuntingdon]

Casually made a playlist inspired by The Newsreader and Tim & Dale.

With tracks from The Newsreader, fanvids and fics (I’ll share the fanvids - see Ao3 for the fics!) and just 80s queer music!

See also: The Newsreader’s Official Playlist.

And this Tim/Dale Playlist and adorable Tim Ahern playlist.

[queerasfact]

We're back!!

New episode coming tomorrow on the Australian singer and male impersonator, Nellie Small. Can't wait to be sharing queer history with you all again!

Find the episode from 1 June on our Podbean. We're also on Instagram and Bluesky now as well as our regular haunt on Patreon, so come say hi there!

[Image source: State Library of New South Wales]

[userdocumentary]

QUEERSTRALIA (2022) Episode 3 dir. Stamatia Maroupas

[milsmakesart]

For the next 10 days my campaign to raise funds for my Queer Gothic Horror Comic 'Lace' will be up on the Australian Cultural Fund Website. Please donate if you can! Funds will cover printing cost, editing, conventions and allowing me to eat!

https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2E9q000000CWVGEA4/queer-gothic-horror-comic-lace

[cynicalclassicist]

Just putting out this bit of queer history.

A news report from Australia's government broadcaster in the 70s, found in their archives simply labeled 'lesbians'

Captions added for your reading pleasure

[archival-dodger]

A collection of four gay liberation papers, demonstrating the close ties between left-wing organising and the Australian gay lib movement. The top two come from the 1976 Manifesto of the Socialist Homosexuals, the bottom two are from a queer anarchist paper and satire Marxist groups by painting them as bourgeois intellectuals who would rather talk politics than engage in praxis.

(Photos my own, taken at the Australian Queer Archives. You can find a substantial collection of gay lib material on the site Reason in Revolt).