lgbtiq history
Pompo and Christie Palmerston: how statues sometimes lie
As #BlackLivesMatter protests continue across the world, statues commemorating divisive historical figures come under fire. At Milla Milla on the Atherton Tablelands, a statue commemorates two people, one white and the other Aboriginal. The white man is Christie Palmerston, a noted explorer, and the Aboriginal is his ‘companion’ Pompo. Milla Milla sits at the top …
Queens Ball book: the world’s longest-running LGBTIQ+ event
The Queens Ball book, launched as a PDF on Saturday, documents the longest-running continuous LGBTIQ+ event in the world. Proceeds from book sales will fund an annual award in honour of Brisbane Queens Ball founder, Dame Sybil von Thorndyke. Scroll down for purchase link Publisher Bill Rutkin OAM said the book will go into print …
Queens Ball Virtual Awards, Isolation Costume Ball & more
In the early days of Australia’s COVID-19 restrictions, QNews approached the Brisbane Pride Festival Committee about the possibility that it might prove impossible to hold a Queens Ball in 2020. The committee will now host the Queens Ball Virtual Awards on 27 June. The same day will also see Global Pride. Earlier, QNews will present …
Australian LGBTIQ history timeline: the 20th century
The Australian LGBTIQ history timeline of the twentieth century begins with male homosexuality prosecuted as a criminal act in every jurisdiction of the newly federated Commonwealth. However, the last 30 years of the century saw every one of those laws consigned to history. While the law only explicitly criminalised male homosexuality, all members of the …
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 …
200-year-old diary shows tolerance always existed
A historian examining the 200-year-old diary of a Yorkshire farmer discovered previously missed entries arguing for increased tolerance towards homosexuality. Matthew Tomlinson’s diary covers the period from 1806 until 1839. It found its way into the Wakefield Library sometime before the 1950s. Matthew Tomlinson lived from about 1770 until 1850. A widower at the time …
LGBTIQ history: Australia’s earliest known gay love letter
Most of what we know of LGBTIQ Australians in the colonial era comes from court and prison records. Australia’s earliest known gay love letter is no different. Indeed, it is the letter of a convict to the person he loved most — a man he knew he would never see again. Denis Prendergast (or Pendergast) …
William Lygon – I thought men like that shot themselves.
William Lygon, the 7th Earl of Beauchamp, seemed destined for a life of greatness when an aging Queen Victoria appointed him Governor of New South Wales at the age of just 27. And indeed, during his life, he played important roles in the administration of the Empire. However, in 1931, disgrace came upon him. Disgrace …
Australian LGBTIQ history timeline: 1727 – 1901
Australia’s documented history of sexual diversity predates the arrival of the First Fleet at Botany Bay. Indeed, the Australian LGBTIQ history timeline begins with a 1727 shipwreck, the details recorded in a journal written by a ship’s officer. Pre-colonial history There is no record of LGBTIQ people in First Nations communities of the pre-colonial era. …
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 …