A look back at Hollywood’s unrground gay club culture of the 1970s - Curbed LA

Contents:

• A LOOK BACK AT HOLLYWOOD’S UNRGROUND GAY CLUB CULTURE OF THE 1970S
• WHY BEG “GAY THE ’70S NEW YORK AND L.A. WAS MAGIC” — AND HOW HOLLYWOOD HAS CHANGED (GUT COLUMN)
• THIS IS WHAT GAY LIBERATN LOOKED LIKE IN THE '70S
• WHAT WAS LIKE TO E OUT THE '70SATRALIA THE 1970S SAW GAY AND LBIAN LIFE GO PUBLIC, WH ACTIVIST GROUPS TAKG TO THE STREETS - BUT WASN'T EASY. HERE, 78ERS PETER WAAL AND ROBYN KENNEDY LOOK BACK ON THE STIGMA THEY FACED AND WHY EVENTS LIKE MARDI GRAS STILL MATTER TODAY.PETER WAAL AND PETER BONSALL-BOONE. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDIN AN NER-CY SYDNEY TERRACE HOE, YOU N FEEL THE LOVE THAT WAS SHARED BETWEEN PETER WAAL AND PETER BONSALL-BOONE.THE PAIR SHARED MORE THAN 50 YEARS TOGETHER BEFORE “BON”, AS HE WAS BT KNOWN, DIED OM NCER 2017, JT MONTHS BEFORE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS LEGALISED ATRALIA.“BON WAS THE ONE WHO ED TO TALK ABOUT GETTG MARRIED," PETER, 82, TELLS SBS NEWS. "HE ED TO SAY, ‘WOW, WOULDN’T BE WONRFUL TO BE A REGNISED HOMOSEXUAL UPLE.'” “I REALISED THAT THERE WERE SOME REAL BENEFS AND I CERTALY FOUND WHEN I HAD TO WD UP HIS TATE AS A SGLE MAN, WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER IF WE’D HAVE BEEN MARRIED.“IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LOVELY TO HAVE HAD A WEDDG AND I STILL WEAR THE ENGAGEMENT RG.”PETER AND BON OUTSI THEIR HOME. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDIT WAS OCTOBER 1966 WHEN PETER AND BON CID THEY WERE A UPLE AT A IEND’S BIRTHDAY PARTY.“FOR HIM, JT WENT ‘BANG!’” PETER SAYS WH A CHUCKLE.“I WAS A B MORE RERVED, I SUPPOSE. IN FACT, I DIDN’T QUE BELIEVE LONG-TERM RELATNSHIPS, BUT HAPPENED - AND TWO OR THREE MONTHS TO THE RELATNSHIP I FELT VERY FORTABLE AND LOVE.”BORN JT 20 DAYS APART, THE PAIR WERE THEIR LATE 20S WHEN THEY FIRST MET.ON THE NIGHT THEY SAY THEY FIRST THOUGHT OF THEMSELV AS A UPLE, TWO MONTHS AFTER MEETG AUGT 1966. SOURCE: SUPPLIED“I WAS BORN 1938 [ THE NETHERLANDS], JT BEFORE THE WAR, SO ALL MY YOUNGER YEARS WERE DURG THE SEND WORLD WAR,” PETER SAYS. “WHEN YOU TURNED 18, YOU HAD TO DO PULSORY SERVICE [BUT] HAVG LIVED DURG THE WAR, THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANTED TO DO, BE A SOLDIER.”HIS PE WAS A TICKET TO ATRALIA 1957.READ MORETHERE'S MORE TO BEG TRANS THAN G OUT. RTY'S WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN A JOURNEYINIALLY, PETER SAYS THE NSERVATIVE SOCIETY OF HIS NEW HOME WAS A DIFFICULT ADJTMENT.“I WAS ALSO GOG THROUGH DISVERG THAT I WAS GAY, ALTHOUGH I HAD KNOWN FOR MANY YEARS ALREADY AT SCHOOL.”“I KNEW I WAS DIFFERENT, BUT THERE WAS NO LABEL OR NAME THAT I ULD GIVE . I JT KNEW THAT WOMEN OR GIRLS, JT DIDN’T CLICK WH ME.“IT TOOK A LONG TIME TO E TO TERMS WH THAT; ABOUT FIVE YEARS.”DURG THAT TIME, HE MA THE JOURNEY BACK TO EUROPE.“I WAS AWAY FOR ABOUT TWO-AND-A-HALF-YEARS, AND DURG THAT PERD, I REALLY DISVERED MYSELF.” HE TRAVELLED AND WORKED DIFFERENT UNTRI BUT HE REMEMBERS FONDLY A SPRG DAY SWEN, WHERE THE TRE WERE STARTG TO BLOOM.“IT WAS ALMOST LIKE AN APPARN; ‘GO BACK TO ATRALIA,’” HE SAYS. HE FOLLOWED , AND SHORTLY AFTER, HE MET BON.AT HOME THEIR BACKYARD. SOURCE: SUPPLIED“EVER SCE ARRIVG, THIS IS HOME,” PETER SAYS, MOTNG TO HIS HOE FULL OF MEMORI.PORTRAS OF THE PAIR ADORN THE WALLS AT EVERY TURN, A CERAMIC WEDDG KE SS ON THE MANTLEPIECE, AND THE GARN A STATUE OF DAVID STANDS PROUDLY AMONG THE GREENERY - A RABOW TIE AROUND HIS NECK AND A RABOW FLAG HAND.A LIFETIME OF ACTIVISMPETER AND BON HELPED LEAD THE CHARGE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS FOR THE LGBTIQ+ MUNY.IN THE EARLY 1970S, THEY HELPED FOUND AN ANISATN LLED CAMP (CAMPAIGN AGAST MORAL PERSECUTN) AND WOULD GO ON TO TABLISH THE PHONE-A-FRIEND UNSELLG SERVICE OM THEIR LIVG ROOM - OFFERG AN EAR OF SUPPORT FOR ANYONE WHO NEED .THE PHONE LE IS STILL EXISTENCE AS PART OF THE SERVIC OFFERED BY THE TWENTY10 GAY AND LBIAN COUNSELLG SERVICE NSW.“OF URSE, 1970, THE BIGGT ISSUE FOR MALE HOMOSEXUALS WAS THAT WE WERE CRIMALS FOR SHARG OUR BODI,” PETER SAYS. “BON AND I LIVG HERE THE HOE, THEY ULD HAVE ARRTED , DRAGGED THROUGH URT, ALL THOSE KDS OF THGS.“WE HAD A POLICE MISSNER WHO SAID HOMOSEXUALY IS A NCER SOCIETY.”PETER AND BON ARE PROUD 78ERS. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDDETERMED TO CHANGE THE LAWS AND FIGHT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, THE PAIR IALLY ANSWERED AN VE OM ACTIVIST JOHN WARE TO JO CAMP INK. A LARGE GROUP MET SOON AFTER AT A WE AND CHEE NIGHT TO START PLANNG THEIR ACTIVISM.“GETTG A PUBLIC HALL 1970 FOR A HOMOSEXUAL GROUP WAS A NO-NO,” PETER SAYS. “BON AT THE TIME WAS THE ANIST AND CHOIRMASTER AT ST JOHN’S [ANGLIN CHURCH] BALMA.“OF URSE, THEY HAVE A PARISH HALL, SO BON SAID TO FATHER DAVID AT THE TIME, ‘N WE HAVE THE HALL?’ AND HE BASILLY SAID ‘ABOUT BLOODY TIME, BONSALL'. HE WAS VERY AFFIRMATIVE.“IT WAS LIKE A HAVEN THOSE DAYS THAT MEN AND WOMEN ULD GATHER FOR A PARTY, FOR A MEETG, AND TO START THE MOVEMENT AS WE KNOW TODAY.”PETER WAAL (CENTRE RIGHT) AND ROBYN KENNEDY (RIGHT) CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF CAMP INK. SOURCE: SYDNEY GAY AND LBIAN MARDI GRASROBYN KENNEDY WAS ALSO PART OF CAMP INK THE 1970S.“AT THAT STAGE, MOST LGBT ANISATNS WERE VERY MUCH UNR THE RADAR, THE CLOSET, BEE AT THE TIME HOMOSEXUALY WAS STILL ILLEGAL AND THERE WERE NO ANTI-DISCRIMATN PROVISNS,” THE 67-YEAR-OLD TELLS SBS NEWS.“EXPOSURE, BEG OUTED, ULD LEAD TO SOME PRETTY VASTATG OUT AND PEOPLE QUE EQUENTLY LOST THEIR JOBS IF THEY WERE OUTED, OR THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN TOSSED OUT OF HOME, LOST THEIR FAY WORKS.“IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT TIME, SO ANISATNS OFTEN OPERATED BY WORD OF MOUTH.”ROBYN KENNEDY AT THE NSW STATE LIBRARY COMG OUT THE 70S EXHIBN. SOURCE: SBS NEWSROBYN REMEMBERS FEELG ISOLATED ABOUT HER SEXUALY AND “SPERATE TO NNECT WH LIKEMD PEOPLE”. “I WENT TO SYDNEY UNIVERSY LAW SCHOOL, WHICH THOSE DAYS WAS AN CREDIBLY UGLY, STALIST-TYPE-ARCHECTURE BUILDG THE CY NEXT TO THE LAW URTS,” SHE SAYS. “THERE WASN’T EXACTLY A GAY PRI GROUP THAT BUILDG, SO WAS QUE STIFLG.”READ MOREWHAT 'S LIKE TO BE LGBTIQ+ THE MIDDLE EAST - AND WHY THE TWO MEN FLEDAT 21, SHE KNOCKED ON THE CLUB DOORS OF CAMP INK AND TO HER RELIEF, FOUND A “SAFE SPACE”.“IT WAS A VERY WELG ENVIRONMENT. IT WASN’T REALLY SAFE FOR LBIANS TO BE OUT ON THE STREET; YOU’D BE SUBJECT TO A LOT OF ABE AND THREATS OF VLENCE.”ROBYN AT A WOMEN'S RIGHTS MARCH. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDAS PART OF HER ACTIVISM, ROBYN TRAVELLED TO SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSI WH OTHERS TO TE STUNTS ABOUT THE LGBTIQ+ MUNY AND EQUALY. THE GROUP AIMED TO RM THE NEXT GENERATNS THE HOPE THAT THE PREJUDICE THEY WERE EXPERIENCG THE 1970S WOULD EVENTUALLY DISSIPATE.IT WAS SOMETHG ROBYN KNEW ALL TOO WELL.“I APPLIED FOR A JOB THAT I WAS OVER-QUALIFIED FOR AND KNOW I WASN’T OFFERED BEE THEY KNEW I WAS A LBIAN,” SHE SAYS. “I FELT REALLY EPLY HURT BY THAT, I FELT THE JTICE OF .“THEY WERE THE ATTUS OF THE TIME ... THERE WAS NOTHG TO STOP PEOPLE DISQUALIFYG YOU ON THE BASIS OF YOUR SEXUALY.”FDG FAMEIN 1972, PETER AND BON APPEARED ON THE ABC DOCUMENTARY SERI CHEQUERBOARD.IT WAS A GROUND-BREAKG EPISO, WH THE PAIR SHARG THE FIRST KISS BETWEEN A SAME-SEX UPLE ON NATNAL TELEVISN. TEN DAYS AFTER WAS BROADST, BON LOST HIS JOB AS CHURCH SECRETARY AT A MOSMAN PARISH AND HAD TO SEEK A NEW EMPLOYER - BUT THE PAIR HAD NO REGRETS. THEY EVEN WENT ON TO NAME THEIR HOE AFTER THE PROGRAM, AND 'S WHERE PETER STILL LIV TODAY.PETER AND BON ON THE ABC'S CHEQUERBOARD PROGRAM 1972. SOURCE: ABC ATRALIA“IT LAID A FOUNDATN FOR A FEW DIFFERENT THGS AND ALTHOUGH THE KISS WAS VERY MOMENTARY AND WASN’T VERY TENSE, A SENSE BROKE THAT BARRIER,” PETER SAYS. “IT’S ALRIGHT FOR TWO MEN TO BE TIMATE AT THAT LEVEL.”ALMOST 50 YEARS ON, PETER STILL RECEIV PRAISE. “PEOPLE STILL REFER TO THAT MOMENT, NOT ONLY THE KISS BUT PEOPLE HAVE E FORWARD AND HAVE SAID: ‘I WAS 18 AND I LIVED QUEENSLAND AND I’D NEVER SEEN POSIVE ROLE MOLS OF TWO GAY MEN.’"PETER AND BON'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY AT GLEBE TOWN HALL 2016. SOURCE: GEOFF FRIENDIN 1978, PETER AND BON, ALONGSI ROBYN AND A FEW HUNDRED OTHERS, MARCHED UP SYDNEY'S OXFORD STREET S FIRST MARDI GRAS PARA. “THERE WERE LOTS OF GAY BARS, SO SOME OF WOULD DART TO THE BARS AND SAY ‘OUT OF THE BARS AND TO THE STREETS!’” PETER SAYS. "IT WAS EXHILARATG."“SOME DID JO, SO THE PARA GREW A B, BUT THERE WAS NO MUNY TO WELE OR SAY, 'YOU’RE ALRIGHT.'”BUT THE NIGHT SCEND TO VLENCE AS POLICE BEGAN ARRTG THE MONSTRATORS, DRAGGG THEM TO WAG PADDY WAGONS. BON WAS ONE OF THEM.PETER STILL LIV THE SAME HOE TODAY. SOURCE: SBS NEWSALTHOUGH MUCH HAS CHANGED OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS, PETER SAYS IS IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THE PROGRS THAT HAS BEEN MA.ON SATURDAY, HE AND ROBYN WILL WALK DURG THE MARDI GRAS PARA AT THE SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND AS PART OF THE MARDI GRAS 78ERS, AS PROUD PNEERS OF THE MOVEMENT.“THERE’S THIS HUGE MUNY NOW, ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE WELG ,” PETER SAYS. “THAT’S PROBABLY THE BIGGT PROGRS THAT MY MUNY HAS MA … TO HAVE THIS ORDARY ACCEPTANCE.”NSW STATE LIBRARY EXHIBN COMG OUT THE 70S IS ON UNTIL 16 MAY AND N ALSO BE ACCSED ONLE. THE 2021 SYDNEY GAY AND LBIAN MARDI GRAS PARA WILL BE BROADST LIVE AT 6PM AEDT ON SATURDAY 6 MARCH ON SBS ON DEMAND OR TCH THE FULL PARA AT 7:30PM ON SBS AND NITV. FOLLOW THE NVERSATN ON SOCIAL MEDIA WH THE HASHTAG #MARDIGRAS2021 AND VIS  FOR MORE STORI. LGBTIQ+ ATRALIANS SEEKG SUPPORT WH MENTAL HEALTH N ALSO NTACT QLIFE ON 1800 184 527 OR VIS .  ALSO HAS A LIST OF SUPPORT SERVIC.SHARE9 M READPUBLISHED 6 MARCH 2021 8:06AMUPDATED 6 MARCH 2021 2:05PMBY JENNIFER SCHERERTAGSNEW SOUTH WALSYDNEYSHARE THIS WH FAY AND IENDSCOPY LKSHAREREMEND FOR YOU
• SF GAY HISTORY
• NIGHTCLUBBG: GAY CLUBBG ’70S LONDON
• GAY COMMUNITY 1970S

A LOOK BACK AT HOLLYWOOD’S UNRGROUND GAY CLUB CULTURE OF THE 1970S

Wt Hollywood has long been the rabow-draped pal of the gay muny Los Angel, but an article for KCET, cy planner Jam Rojas scrib the diverse and somewhat unr-the-radar gay dis circu of 1970s Hollywood. " In Lillian Farman and Stuart Timmons’s Gay LA, the thors scribe how rtrant staff ed to splash the bathroom floors wh ammonia—the smell enuragg patrons not to lger longer than necsary.

[KCET] Developers Will Save Parts of Historic Circ Dis But Raze Everythg Else [Curbed LA] Mappg Los Angel's Groundbreakg Role LGBT History [Curbed LA] The Past and Future of Three of LA's Historic But Threatened Gay Nightclubs [Curbed LA]. Manco’s crowd, which clud many gay men of lor, bellowed out the chos, refigurg the song’s addrsee as a new kd of Shore Commissn, ‘Free Man’ (1975)D.

Valento, ‘I Was Born This Way’ (1975)The first rerd to feature lyrics about beg an out-and-proud gay man me om the mil performer Charl “Valento” Harris, who released “I Was Born This Way” as an apparently one-off release on Gaiee. ” “The lyrics were perfect, ” she told me Summer, ‘I Feel Love’ (1977)Gay male dance crowds were drawn to rerdgs that featured Black female volists, often intifyg wh their emotnal exprsivens and strength the face of adversy, often to the surprise of the artists, who were ually gospel-traed.

WHY BEG “GAY THE ’70S NEW YORK AND L.A. WAS MAGIC” — AND HOW HOLLYWOOD HAS CHANGED (GUT COLUMN)

Patrick Cowley, ‘Mutant Man’ (1982)Patrick Cowley fed his reputatn as one of the world’s most progrsive synthizer players durg rerdgs wh the dis pneer Sylvter, cludg “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), ” perhaps the ultimate gay male anthem.

In the past few months, the Uned Stat has celebrated a few important ton the history of civil rights for gay Amerins: the signatn of the Stonewall Inn New York Cy as a Natnal Monument to Gay Rights and the first anniversary of the historic Supreme Court cisn to legalize same-sex marriage all 50 stat. There had, however, been gay bars Dallas, datg back to at least the early 1950s (one of the first was Le Bof Sur Le To, later renamed Villa Fontana). The police raids and nstant harassment ntued through the latter half of the 1970s, when an anized and unified gay muny beme polilly active and took their plats to the urts.

THIS IS WHAT GAY LIBERATN LOOKED LIKE IN THE '70S

In the early days, they were the only plac where gay men and women uld socialize openly wh one another a “safe” environment where they were ee to be themselv. That was a quote om a Dallas Gay Polil Cc spokman a 1979 Dallas Morng News article on the emergence of Oak Lawn as the center of Dallas’ gay muny.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the safe meetg plac at a time when men and women were beg arrted and were losg their jobs simply bee they were gay. * * * * *I wre regularly about Dallas history, and has been difficult to fd posive media acunts of Dallas’ gay muny before the 1970s.

Article, not, this part of town was not one of the nict: “On Live Oak and Skil Streets there is a small clter of gay tablishments which are popular. It was one of the longt ntuoly-operated gay bars Dallas, and is equently ced by olr members of the muny as beg one of the very few plac the ’50s and ’60s where they were able to socialize openly wh other gay men and women. Opened 1974 an imprsive 60-year-old hoe, Mache Gun Kelly’s was a popular (but short-lived) dis-bar-rtrant that attracted “all typ — straights and gays (girls too), hippi, and bsmen.

WHAT WAS LIKE TO E OUT THE '70SATRALIA THE 1970S SAW GAY AND LBIAN LIFE GO PUBLIC, WH ACTIVIST GROUPS TAKG TO THE STREETS - BUT WASN'T EASY. HERE, 78ERS PETER WAAL AND ROBYN KENNEDY LOOK BACK ON THE STIGMA THEY FACED AND WHY EVENTS LIKE MARDI GRAS STILL MATTER TODAY.PETER WAAL AND PETER BONSALL-BOONE. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDIN AN NER-CY SYDNEY TERRACE HOE, YOU N FEEL THE LOVE THAT WAS SHARED BETWEEN PETER WAAL AND PETER BONSALL-BOONE.THE PAIR SHARED MORE THAN 50 YEARS TOGETHER BEFORE “BON”, AS HE WAS BT KNOWN, DIED OM NCER 2017, JT MONTHS BEFORE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WAS LEGALISED ATRALIA.“BON WAS THE ONE WHO ED TO TALK ABOUT GETTG MARRIED," PETER, 82, TELLS SBS NEWS. "HE ED TO SAY, ‘WOW, WOULDN’T BE WONRFUL TO BE A REGNISED HOMOSEXUAL UPLE.'” “I REALISED THAT THERE WERE SOME REAL BENEFS AND I CERTALY FOUND WHEN I HAD TO WD UP HIS TATE AS A SGLE MAN, WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER IF WE’D HAVE BEEN MARRIED.“IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LOVELY TO HAVE HAD A WEDDG AND I STILL WEAR THE ENGAGEMENT RG.”PETER AND BON OUTSI THEIR HOME. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDIT WAS OCTOBER 1966 WHEN PETER AND BON CID THEY WERE A UPLE AT A IEND’S BIRTHDAY PARTY.“FOR HIM, JT WENT ‘BANG!’” PETER SAYS WH A CHUCKLE.“I WAS A B MORE RERVED, I SUPPOSE. IN FACT, I DIDN’T QUE BELIEVE LONG-TERM RELATNSHIPS, BUT HAPPENED - AND TWO OR THREE MONTHS TO THE RELATNSHIP I FELT VERY FORTABLE AND LOVE.”BORN JT 20 DAYS APART, THE PAIR WERE THEIR LATE 20S WHEN THEY FIRST MET.ON THE NIGHT THEY SAY THEY FIRST THOUGHT OF THEMSELV AS A UPLE, TWO MONTHS AFTER MEETG AUGT 1966. SOURCE: SUPPLIED“I WAS BORN 1938 [ THE NETHERLANDS], JT BEFORE THE WAR, SO ALL MY YOUNGER YEARS WERE DURG THE SEND WORLD WAR,” PETER SAYS. “WHEN YOU TURNED 18, YOU HAD TO DO PULSORY SERVICE [BUT] HAVG LIVED DURG THE WAR, THAT’S NOT WHAT I WANTED TO DO, BE A SOLDIER.”HIS PE WAS A TICKET TO ATRALIA 1957.READ MORETHERE'S MORE TO BEG TRANS THAN G OUT. RTY'S WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN A JOURNEYINIALLY, PETER SAYS THE NSERVATIVE SOCIETY OF HIS NEW HOME WAS A DIFFICULT ADJTMENT.“I WAS ALSO GOG THROUGH DISVERG THAT I WAS GAY, ALTHOUGH I HAD KNOWN FOR MANY YEARS ALREADY AT SCHOOL.”“I KNEW I WAS DIFFERENT, BUT THERE WAS NO LABEL OR NAME THAT I ULD GIVE . I JT KNEW THAT WOMEN OR GIRLS, JT DIDN’T CLICK WH ME.“IT TOOK A LONG TIME TO E TO TERMS WH THAT; ABOUT FIVE YEARS.”DURG THAT TIME, HE MA THE JOURNEY BACK TO EUROPE.“I WAS AWAY FOR ABOUT TWO-AND-A-HALF-YEARS, AND DURG THAT PERD, I REALLY DISVERED MYSELF.” HE TRAVELLED AND WORKED DIFFERENT UNTRI BUT HE REMEMBERS FONDLY A SPRG DAY SWEN, WHERE THE TRE WERE STARTG TO BLOOM.“IT WAS ALMOST LIKE AN APPARN; ‘GO BACK TO ATRALIA,’” HE SAYS. HE FOLLOWED , AND SHORTLY AFTER, HE MET BON.AT HOME THEIR BACKYARD. SOURCE: SUPPLIED“EVER SCE ARRIVG, THIS IS HOME,” PETER SAYS, MOTNG TO HIS HOE FULL OF MEMORI.PORTRAS OF THE PAIR ADORN THE WALLS AT EVERY TURN, A CERAMIC WEDDG KE SS ON THE MANTLEPIECE, AND THE GARN A STATUE OF DAVID STANDS PROUDLY AMONG THE GREENERY - A RABOW TIE AROUND HIS NECK AND A RABOW FLAG HAND.A LIFETIME OF ACTIVISMPETER AND BON HELPED LEAD THE CHARGE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS FOR THE LGBTIQ+ MUNY.IN THE EARLY 1970S, THEY HELPED FOUND AN ANISATN LLED CAMP (CAMPAIGN AGAST MORAL PERSECUTN) AND WOULD GO ON TO TABLISH THE PHONE-A-FRIEND UNSELLG SERVICE OM THEIR LIVG ROOM - OFFERG AN EAR OF SUPPORT FOR ANYONE WHO NEED .THE PHONE LE IS STILL EXISTENCE AS PART OF THE SERVIC OFFERED BY THE TWENTY10 GAY AND LBIAN COUNSELLG SERVICE NSW.“OF URSE, 1970, THE BIGGT ISSUE FOR MALE HOMOSEXUALS WAS THAT WE WERE CRIMALS FOR SHARG OUR BODI,” PETER SAYS. “BON AND I LIVG HERE THE HOE, THEY ULD HAVE ARRTED , DRAGGED THROUGH URT, ALL THOSE KDS OF THGS.“WE HAD A POLICE MISSNER WHO SAID HOMOSEXUALY IS A NCER SOCIETY.”PETER AND BON ARE PROUD 78ERS. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDDETERMED TO CHANGE THE LAWS AND FIGHT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, THE PAIR IALLY ANSWERED AN VE OM ACTIVIST JOHN WARE TO JO CAMP INK. A LARGE GROUP MET SOON AFTER AT A WE AND CHEE NIGHT TO START PLANNG THEIR ACTIVISM.“GETTG A PUBLIC HALL 1970 FOR A HOMOSEXUAL GROUP WAS A NO-NO,” PETER SAYS. “BON AT THE TIME WAS THE ANIST AND CHOIRMASTER AT ST JOHN’S [ANGLIN CHURCH] BALMA.“OF URSE, THEY HAVE A PARISH HALL, SO BON SAID TO FATHER DAVID AT THE TIME, ‘N WE HAVE THE HALL?’ AND HE BASILLY SAID ‘ABOUT BLOODY TIME, BONSALL'. HE WAS VERY AFFIRMATIVE.“IT WAS LIKE A HAVEN THOSE DAYS THAT MEN AND WOMEN ULD GATHER FOR A PARTY, FOR A MEETG, AND TO START THE MOVEMENT AS WE KNOW TODAY.”PETER WAAL (CENTRE RIGHT) AND ROBYN KENNEDY (RIGHT) CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF CAMP INK. SOURCE: SYDNEY GAY AND LBIAN MARDI GRASROBYN KENNEDY WAS ALSO PART OF CAMP INK THE 1970S.“AT THAT STAGE, MOST LGBT ANISATNS WERE VERY MUCH UNR THE RADAR, THE CLOSET, BEE AT THE TIME HOMOSEXUALY WAS STILL ILLEGAL AND THERE WERE NO ANTI-DISCRIMATN PROVISNS,” THE 67-YEAR-OLD TELLS SBS NEWS.“EXPOSURE, BEG OUTED, ULD LEAD TO SOME PRETTY VASTATG OUT AND PEOPLE QUE EQUENTLY LOST THEIR JOBS IF THEY WERE OUTED, OR THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN TOSSED OUT OF HOME, LOST THEIR FAY WORKS.“IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT TIME, SO ANISATNS OFTEN OPERATED BY WORD OF MOUTH.”ROBYN KENNEDY AT THE NSW STATE LIBRARY COMG OUT THE 70S EXHIBN. SOURCE: SBS NEWSROBYN REMEMBERS FEELG ISOLATED ABOUT HER SEXUALY AND “SPERATE TO NNECT WH LIKEMD PEOPLE”. “I WENT TO SYDNEY UNIVERSY LAW SCHOOL, WHICH THOSE DAYS WAS AN CREDIBLY UGLY, STALIST-TYPE-ARCHECTURE BUILDG THE CY NEXT TO THE LAW URTS,” SHE SAYS. “THERE WASN’T EXACTLY A GAY PRI GROUP THAT BUILDG, SO WAS QUE STIFLG.”READ MOREWHAT 'S LIKE TO BE LGBTIQ+ THE MIDDLE EAST - AND WHY THE TWO MEN FLEDAT 21, SHE KNOCKED ON THE CLUB DOORS OF CAMP INK AND TO HER RELIEF, FOUND A “SAFE SPACE”.“IT WAS A VERY WELG ENVIRONMENT. IT WASN’T REALLY SAFE FOR LBIANS TO BE OUT ON THE STREET; YOU’D BE SUBJECT TO A LOT OF ABE AND THREATS OF VLENCE.”ROBYN AT A WOMEN'S RIGHTS MARCH. SOURCE: SUPPLIEDAS PART OF HER ACTIVISM, ROBYN TRAVELLED TO SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSI WH OTHERS TO TE STUNTS ABOUT THE LGBTIQ+ MUNY AND EQUALY. THE GROUP AIMED TO RM THE NEXT GENERATNS THE HOPE THAT THE PREJUDICE THEY WERE EXPERIENCG THE 1970S WOULD EVENTUALLY DISSIPATE.IT WAS SOMETHG ROBYN KNEW ALL TOO WELL.“I APPLIED FOR A JOB THAT I WAS OVER-QUALIFIED FOR AND KNOW I WASN’T OFFERED BEE THEY KNEW I WAS A LBIAN,” SHE SAYS. “I FELT REALLY EPLY HURT BY THAT, I FELT THE JTICE OF .“THEY WERE THE ATTUS OF THE TIME ... THERE WAS NOTHG TO STOP PEOPLE DISQUALIFYG YOU ON THE BASIS OF YOUR SEXUALY.”FDG FAMEIN 1972, PETER AND BON APPEARED ON THE ABC DOCUMENTARY SERI CHEQUERBOARD.IT WAS A GROUND-BREAKG EPISO, WH THE PAIR SHARG THE FIRST KISS BETWEEN A SAME-SEX UPLE ON NATNAL TELEVISN. TEN DAYS AFTER WAS BROADST, BON LOST HIS JOB AS CHURCH SECRETARY AT A MOSMAN PARISH AND HAD TO SEEK A NEW EMPLOYER - BUT THE PAIR HAD NO REGRETS. THEY EVEN WENT ON TO NAME THEIR HOE AFTER THE PROGRAM, AND 'S WHERE PETER STILL LIV TODAY.PETER AND BON ON THE ABC'S CHEQUERBOARD PROGRAM 1972. SOURCE: ABC ATRALIA“IT LAID A FOUNDATN FOR A FEW DIFFERENT THGS AND ALTHOUGH THE KISS WAS VERY MOMENTARY AND WASN’T VERY TENSE, A SENSE BROKE THAT BARRIER,” PETER SAYS. “IT’S ALRIGHT FOR TWO MEN TO BE TIMATE AT THAT LEVEL.”ALMOST 50 YEARS ON, PETER STILL RECEIV PRAISE. “PEOPLE STILL REFER TO THAT MOMENT, NOT ONLY THE KISS BUT PEOPLE HAVE E FORWARD AND HAVE SAID: ‘I WAS 18 AND I LIVED QUEENSLAND AND I’D NEVER SEEN POSIVE ROLE MOLS OF TWO GAY MEN.’"PETER AND BON'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY AT GLEBE TOWN HALL 2016. SOURCE: GEOFF FRIENDIN 1978, PETER AND BON, ALONGSI ROBYN AND A FEW HUNDRED OTHERS, MARCHED UP SYDNEY'S OXFORD STREET S FIRST MARDI GRAS PARA. “THERE WERE LOTS OF GAY BARS, SO SOME OF WOULD DART TO THE BARS AND SAY ‘OUT OF THE BARS AND TO THE STREETS!’” PETER SAYS. "IT WAS EXHILARATG."“SOME DID JO, SO THE PARA GREW A B, BUT THERE WAS NO MUNY TO WELE OR SAY, 'YOU’RE ALRIGHT.'”BUT THE NIGHT SCEND TO VLENCE AS POLICE BEGAN ARRTG THE MONSTRATORS, DRAGGG THEM TO WAG PADDY WAGONS. BON WAS ONE OF THEM.PETER STILL LIV THE SAME HOE TODAY. SOURCE: SBS NEWSALTHOUGH MUCH HAS CHANGED OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS, PETER SAYS IS IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THE PROGRS THAT HAS BEEN MA.ON SATURDAY, HE AND ROBYN WILL WALK DURG THE MARDI GRAS PARA AT THE SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND AS PART OF THE MARDI GRAS 78ERS, AS PROUD PNEERS OF THE MOVEMENT.“THERE’S THIS HUGE MUNY NOW, ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE WELG ,” PETER SAYS. “THAT’S PROBABLY THE BIGGT PROGRS THAT MY MUNY HAS MA … TO HAVE THIS ORDARY ACCEPTANCE.”NSW STATE LIBRARY EXHIBN COMG OUT THE 70S IS ON UNTIL 16 MAY AND N ALSO BE ACCSED ONLE. THE 2021 SYDNEY GAY AND LBIAN MARDI GRAS PARA WILL BE BROADST LIVE AT 6PM AEDT ON SATURDAY 6 MARCH ON SBS ON DEMAND OR TCH THE FULL PARA AT 7:30PM ON SBS AND NITV. FOLLOW THE NVERSATN ON SOCIAL MEDIA WH THE HASHTAG #MARDIGRAS2021 AND VIS  FOR MORE STORI. LGBTIQ+ ATRALIANS SEEKG SUPPORT WH MENTAL HEALTH N ALSO NTACT QLIFE ON 1800 184 527 OR VIS .  ALSO HAS A LIST OF SUPPORT SERVIC.SHARE9 M READPUBLISHED 6 MARCH 2021 8:06AMUPDATED 6 MARCH 2021 2:05PMBY JENNIFER SCHERERTAGSNEW SOUTH WALSYDNEYSHARE THIS WH FAY AND IENDSCOPY LKSHAREREMEND FOR YOU

This unlikely-lookg se for a gay untry-wtern bar lled The Swger, which drew “an tertg crowd of ‘semi-butch’ wboys, ” looks like a shack out the untry.

Article not that there wasn’t too much gay activy the Downtown area and warns that there “have been some beatgs of some gays” at some of s tablishments. Opened 1958 as a sophistited downtown bar that offered a state-of-the-art stereophonic sound system, Gene’s at some pot transned to a gay bar at night while remag a “straight” bar durg the day.

The spac, whether always gay iendly or only durg certa tim of the day or week, gave LGBT people the eedom to be themselv a way they ually uld not be their personal or profsnal liv. The most wonrful thg about those days was that the gay folks power lent a hand to young gay people tryg to get a foothold the bs.

SF GAY HISTORY

There was a powerful work of olr succsful gay men like theatril agent Milton Goldman and entertament attorney Arnold Weissberger who troduced younger gay men to succsful showbiz typ at their betiful apartment on Sutton Place overlookg the East River. If he shone three tim, they lled the NYPD, who had a al wh the Mafia owners of the gay bars to arrt a quota of “faggots” each week.

NIGHTCLUBBG: GAY CLUBBG ’70S LONDON

There was rampant homophobia by stud and work executiv and by some olr agents, notorly at CAA (though not Ron Meyer nor the Young Turks, several of whom were known to be gay). Tommy Nutter, who was known for the betiful pipg on the cloth he signed for Mick and Bian Jagger, picked me up at a dis New York one night and I end up at Stigwood’s offic at 135 Central Park Wt, n by Peter Brown, who ed to be Tommy’s boyiend and who had worked for the very gay Beatl manager Brian Epste.

Members and supporters of the Gay Liberatn Front square off agast ps at a barri set up at Greenwich and Charl Streets to prevent the group om reachg the Charl St. Right: A weddg ke adorned wh homosexual upl is prepared to be ed by activists to prott a New York Cy clerk's refal to issue weddg licens to homosexuals the 1970s. A lifetime of activismPeter and Bon helped lead the charge for equal rights for the LGBTIQ+ the early 1970s, they helped found an anisatn lled CAMP (Campaign Agast Moral Persecutn) and would go on to tablish the Phone-a-Friend unsellg service om their livg room - offerg an ear of support for anyone who need phone le is still existence as part of the servic offered by the Twenty10 Gay and Lbian Counsellg Service NSW.

GAY COMMUNITY 1970S

“At that stage, most LGBT anisatns were very much unr the radar, the closet, bee at the time homosexualy was still illegal and there were no anti-discrimatn provisns, ” the 67-year-old tells SBS News. “People still refer to that moment, not only the kiss but people have e forward and have said: ‘I was 18 and I lived Queensland and I’d never seen posive role mols of two gay men.

The 2021 Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras para will be broadst live at 6pm AEDT on Saturday 6 March on SBS On Demand or tch the full para at 7:30pm on SBS and NITV.