Gay di australia
First gay Mardi Gras
Making history
Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives president Graham Willett describes the 1978 Mardi Gras as the ‘most dramatic moment of the backlash’ against the campaign for gay rights. The celebration started at 10pm and progressed down Oxford Road towards the city. The trouble began when they reached Hyde Park.
In an attempt to get the crowd to disperse, the police confiscated the head truck and loud speaker. The crowd, seeing that access to Hyde Park was blocked, headed towards Kings Cross. The police moved in and arrested 53 people.
According to Willett, ‘Many of those arrested were badly beaten inside police cells and the Sydney Morning Herald sank to new editorial lows by publishing the finalize list of names and occupations of those arrested’.
Supporters began a ‘drop the charges’ campaign, which initially generated more arrests. However, due to public uproar about the arrests as well as favourable media coverage, the first charges were dropped in October 1978, and all charges were dropped by the end of 1979. Additionally, laws around obtaining permits for street marches and parades were liberalised.
As such
With Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Melbourne Queer Pride March entity so popular, we thought we should have a chat to one of our fabulous Ground staff members about her experience as a gay backpacker in Australia. As anticipated, our chat with Emily further validated our faith that if we were to coin individuals based on common traits, ethics and an approach to life, then "backpackers," whether queer , straight, transgender, German, Australian, Christian (you get the idea), as a "type" of people, participate more commonalities as a group, than that of the gay community as a whole. In simple terms and generally speaking of course (there's always an exception to every generalisation), "backpackers," regardless of heritage, culture or sexual orientation, all contribute a common lust for life, uncover mindedness and a curiosity and tolerance of different cultures, countries and customs.
Anyway enough philosophical jargon... meet Emily:
Lets commence off with your name, age and hometown? Emily. I'm 26 years aged and I am from Wellingborough, England
Favourite food?(laughs) Pizza of course!
Celebrity crush? Emma Stone
What is your current role at Base? Bar Manager at Base St Kilda, Melb
Unbelonging: Anti-Asian racism in Australia’s gay community
Belonging, at its root, is a fantasy of a socio-cultural vacuum where differences do not impede on feeling linked with others. Some link belonging to our innate human desire for heartfelt comfort grounded in feelings of recognition, connectedness and/or acceptance. It is often a social emotion: the feeling of affinity with a group, of entity part of something larger than ourselves and existence welcomed by others. Many of us first trial this feeling in the family home and pursue to recreate it in ever widening circles from school to workplaces to neighbourhoods and communities.
If you are lucky, you mostly move through life feeling like you belong. While we all, at some points in time, sense like a ‘fish out of water’, especially in novel cultural spaces, this experience of benign non-belonging is a temporary feeling and generally exceptional in one’s everyday life.
By contrast, if you are unlucky, other people accidentally or purposefully, sometimes even maliciously, ensure you do not feel ‘at home’. From overtly violent and bullying behaviour to more subtle workplace discrimination, ill-treatment in everyday life, a
LGBTQ+ Travel Guide to Australia
Interesting Cities to Visit in Australia
SYDNEY
Modern and sophisticated, Sydney is one of the best cities for tourists to visit. With gorgeous beaches and the Blue Mountains on the doorstep, there’s plenty to examine and discover. Highlights here include the Sydney Opera Residence, the Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach and of course the city’s culinary scene.
MELBOURNE
With vintage shops and graffiti-covered backstreets, not to mention a superb coffee society, Melbourne has earned its rep as Australia’s hipster capital. Highlights not to miss in Melbourne include the National Gallery of Victoria, the country’s oldest art gallery; The Queen Victoria Market for the foodie inside of everyone; and of course the street art, for which the city is famous.
GOLD COAST
Fun seekers glance no further as Gold Coast is famous for surfing, rollercoasters and nightclubs. Be sure to also make period for The Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre as well as Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, which is residence to native species including koalas, kangaroos and crocodiles.
BRISBANE
One of the oldest cities in Australia, house to indigenous peop