At the event: Facilitator Tamson Pietsch and panellists Scott McKinnon, Leigh Boucher, Shirleene Robinson, 20 February 2018. Image: William Brougham, Pride History Group
On 20 February 2018, the UTS FASS Australian Centre for Public History held its annual public lecture “Out in the Streets: Histories of gay and lesbian activism” – a panel discussion presented at the Kings Cross Library and Community Centre in collaboration with our partners at the City of Sydney and Sydney's Pride History Group.
It was planned to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the first Sydney Mardi Gras as well the approaching 50th anniversaries of earlier gay and lesbian activist and social movements like the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) and the Daughters of Bilitis.
Our facilitator, ACPH Director Tamson Pietsch, and speakers, Scott McKinnon, Leigh Boucher and Shirleene Robinson, all historians and experts in LGBTIQ and gender studies, interrogated this longer history by answering questions like:
- Which key events shine brightest in Sydney's LGBTIQ activist past?
- How do the 40th anniversary of the first Mardi Gras and recent marriage equality activism fit into a broader picture of LGBTIQ activism in Australia?
- How has the telling of the history of LGBTIQ activism changed? And what is shaping current narratives?
- Are there ways/forms of remembering that have been repurposed in current activism at perhaps the cost of others?
Read more about this event.