Although scholarly tert gay and lbian history broadly fed is relatively young, rearch has creased signifintly sce the early 1990s. This was largely stimulated by the gay liberatn movements of the 1970s and 1980s which both enuraged llective self-awarens amongst gays and sought acceptance om the broar straight society. Durg the 1990s gays beme a signifint 'nsumer' group targeted by var pani and non-mercial anisatns as a niche market. One need only sn through gay muny perdils such as SX or Sydney Star Observer to appreciate the number of bs and non-mercial groups servicg the gay muny. ln light of this nfluence of creased historil rearch gay self-awarens and marketg to the gay muny, we n suggt that one em that terts the gay muny is a specific gay public history. However, there has been ltle vtigatn of the var forms of gay public history Atralia and how the have been utilised by the gay muny. Public History Review, for stance, last published an article on gay public history 1992.
Contents:
- THE SECRET HISTORY OF ATRALIA'S GAY DIGGERS
- DARW'S GAY SCENE: TAKE A TOUR THROUGH NT'S QUEER HISTORY WH ACTIVIST AND AMIC DR DO HODGE
THE SECRET HISTORY OF ATRALIA'S GAY DIGGERS
In a short perd of time Atralia's crimal law has shown a dramatic shift perceptns regardg gays and lbians. * gay history australia *
They were om the Gay Ex-Servic Associatn, and they rried a wreath dited to ‘all brothers and sisters who died durg the wars’—but they would never get to lay at the shre. “I don’t know where all the gays and poofters have e om, ” he was later famoly quoted as sayg, “I don’t remember a sgle one om World War Two. “There were thoands of ex-servicemen who were mp, I thk I went through 300 of them myself, ” he told the magaze, a py of which is prerved by the Atralian Lbian and Gay Archiv.
DARW'S GAY SCENE: TAKE A TOUR THROUGH NT'S QUEER HISTORY WH ACTIVIST AND AMIC DR DO HODGE
In the terts of general happs we re-arranged some room occupants and eventually got all the homos one block, " he said. “A quarter of homosexual s Queensland crimal urts across the war volved airmen, seamen, pilots or others the ary, ” he says. While Atralia’s official ban on gay and lbian service was repealed 1992, LGBT+ soldiers served long before then.
“The irony, of urse, was that they end up an all-male environment wh limed opportuny for female pany – the potential for homo-sex had never been greater, ” Smaal says. “It was amazg the number of gay people the POW mp, ” the Atralian serviceman told Outrage, “well not so much gay as bisexual – bee they uldn’t get a woman they’d have a man.
Ined, the forc of World War One and World War Two may have been a surprisgly liberatg place for gay men and women.