History
1943: Hawking the fork in wartime Brissie
Sydney Thomas Smith was hawking the fork on the inner city streets of wartime Brisbane for six months before the local wallopers caught up with them in 1943. Sydney Thomas Smith never said or did anything to indicate they were transgender. But few would in 1943 Australia. However, for almost a decade from the age …
Prison Sex
Documented prison sex in Aussie institutions illustrates how much more common gay sex was in Australia than the authorities would have us believe. Fred Affleck, the closeted son of an impoverished Queensland baronet went to jail several times, the first in NSW in 1927. In December 1927, Fred Affleck thought all his Christmases were coming …
Sydney’s Kamp Kult – depression era fabulousness
Just days before Christmas 1931, the Arrow newspaper regaled its readers with the story of Sydney’s Kamp Kult. The paper marvelled at lavish ceremonies including the coronation of a Queen and same-sex weddings. At the time, Sydney suffered in the throes of the Great Depression. Men struggled to find employment and riots broke out over …
Coming Out mattered, matters and will always matter
Coming out is an important part of the queer journey, whether one’s personal coming out involves shouting from the rooftops or a quiet chat with loved ones. Queer people have been coming out for a very long time. The first organised public rituals we know of took place in the US in the late 1800s. …
Queensland’s 4th governor: Sir William Wellington Cairns
In 1876, the Porpoise steamed into Trinity Bay, carrying officials tasked with establishing a port. They named the new settlement for then governor of Queensland, Sir William Wellington Cairns. But the fourth governor of Queensland never saw the settlement that bore his name. Indeed, he departed from his post within six months of the founding …
Yarrabah defied Fed and Qld govts over trans employee
In 1979, the Yarrabah Aboriginal Council defied both the federal and Queensland governments over its employment of trans woman Lesley Lampton. Yarrabah An Anglican missionary established Yarrabah Mission in 1892. As the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council website explains, authorities then relocated people to the mission from all over the state. “Members from Aboriginal groups across …
How a long-forgotten ‘confirmed bachelor’ informs our history
When Robert Herbert and John Bramston sailed home to England after six years in the new colony of Queensland, John’s younger brother remained. A ‘confirmed bachelor’, Henry Bramston played a prominent role in Brisbane life but was quickly forgotten after his death. Robert Herbert, private secretary to Sir George Bowen, arrived in Brisbane in November …
Herston: the companionship that dared to speak its name
In the century when ‘the love that dare not speak its name’ became a euphemism for homosexuality, Queensland’s first premier and his longtime male companion enjoyed a companionship that not only spoke its name but bequeathed it to posterity. Robert Herbert and John Bramston combined their two surnames into one and named the home they …
Una Vincenzo, Lady Troubridge
Una Vincenzo, Lady Troubridge was born on March 8, 1887. The life partner of author Radclyffe-Hall, she worked as a sculptor and translator. (Not liking her first name, Radclyffe-Hall generally used just her surname in public.) In 1908, Una Vincenzo Taylor married Commodore Ernest Troubridge. But in 1915, on a visit to her wealthy older …
That infamous time queens drank Wallaby Bob’s pub dry
The Brisbane Queens Ball has had many homes, including a notorious once-only event at Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast. However, the event could never return to Mudgeeraba. The locals were a forgiving mob. But not if you drank Wallaby Bob’s pub dry. The Brisbane Queens Ball began on Mt Tamborine in 1962. A group of …
