Features
On this day January 26: the murder of David Kato
David Kato died violently on January 26 2011. Three months before, a newspaper advocating for the execution of Ugandan gays, published David’s name, address and photo beneath the words ‘Hang Them’. Over a decade before, the schoolteacher returned from working in South Africa determined to promote LGBT rights in Uganda. However, after he came out …
On this day January 25: the Lord Montagu trial
The Wagga Wagga Daily Advertiser reported on January 25 1954, that – shock, horror – men DANCED TOGETHER at a party hosted by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The trial of Montagu (27), his cousin, Major Michael Pitt-Rivers (37), and London Daily Mail diplomatic correspondent Peter Wildeblood (30) consumed a lot of newsprint that year. David …
On this day January 24: the famously debauched Caligula
Officers of the Praetorian Guard assassinated Caligula on January 24 41 CE, stabbing him thirty times, the same number of wounds as his murdered relative Julius Caesar. Caligula achieved renown as the most perverse of Rome’s emperors, whether he deserved it or not. These days, our knowledge of Caligula is probably most informed by various …
Brisbane’s Sportsman Hotel: the history of Sporties
In 2022, Brisbane’s Sportsman Hotel – Sporties – remains a much-loved community hub. For decades, the LGBTIQ+ communities have regarded Sporties as their home away from home. Besides the public bar, showroom and other facilities, it’s somewhere that community groups have assembled, rallied, and organised. They’ve also collected monies for good causes, fundraising for community …
On this day January 23: homosexual advance defence
On January 23 1960, the Edmonton Journal reported that 38-year-old Cecil Warner would hang for murder. During his trial, Warner attempted to justify the murder by claiming 48-year-old Stanley Valpeters made a homosexual advance. It seems that once again the search for love and companionship condemned a man to death in a world that criminalised …
Old activists and unlikely allies catch up after 30 years
Sister Angela Mary Doyle AO, former Executive Director of the Mater Hospitals, and Bill Rutkin OAM, former Queensland AIDS Council President, recently caught up for the first time in 30 years to reminisce on their days at the coal face of the early AIDS crisis. The early AIDS crisis Australians first heard of the mysterious …
On this day January 22, Claire Waldoff
Legendary German cabaret and recording artist Claire Waldoff died on January 22 1957. Claire and longtime partner Olga von Roeder (Olly) are buried together in Stuttgart’s Pragfriedhof cemetary. Claire Waldoff began her entertainment career aged 18, giving up her ambition to train as a doctor following her parent’s divorce. In 1906, she moved to Berlin. …
On this day January 21: Cristóbal Balenciaga
The High Priest of 20th-century haute couture entered this world on January 21 1895. Cristóbal Balenciaga, who started sewing professionally at 12, was later described by Christian Dior as ‘the master of us all’. Cristóbal Balenciaga’s fisherman father died when he was still young. His seamstress mother taught him to sew and at 12, he …
On this day, January 20: A Captain Moonlite Pictorial
Andrew George Scott – Captain Moonlite – known in recent years as the gay bushranger – died on the gallows at Darlinghurst Gaol on 20 January 1880. Bushrangers, like outlaws in America and highwaymen in England, became legends of early Australian history – the Wild Colonial Boys. But, let’s address two contentious issues before launching …
On this day, January 19: Murray H. Hall
On January 19 1901, the New York Times reported the death of businessman and political operative Murray H Hall. Hundreds of Hall’s acquaintances reacted with shock to the revelation that Hall would have been designated female at birth. Papers around the world reported how Murray H. Hall ‘fooled’ the canny politicians of New York’s infamous …