Gay and lesbian life and culture
Scope of collection
Gay and lesbian life and culture covers the history and development of the homosexual culture within Australia with particular emphasis on New South Wales activities and individuals. It encompasses organisations, political groups and social agencies which exist within the gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and their interactions and contribution to the broader community within New South Wales.
Collecting aims and intentions
The Library aims to collect material on all aspects of gay and lesbian life experience and activities in New South Wales. Bisexuals and transgender persons fall under the umbrella of the 'queer' community along with gays and lesbians, and their experiences are also documented by the Library.
The legal status of homosexuals in New South Wales historically has resulted in a lack of published materials such as newspapers and journals. However, a plethora of oppositional material from such sources as religious organisations and lobby groups as well as government reports and submissions is collected to provide information about the evolving social context surrounding the gay and lesbian community in New South Wales.
Original materials, including first-hand documentation of the homosexual experience in New South Wales over time revealed in personal papers for example, are highly sought to support research as they often provide a different focus from the published output which reflects current community attitudes.
The Library collects current materials reflecting the changing issues and concerns in gay and lesbian communities and the historical and social changes in the broader New South Wales community. In particular, materials are acquired that document the mainstreaming of the community from marginalisation to individualised special status and tolerance as demonstrated in the influence of the gay and lesbian community's activities in tourism in New South Wales.
Information, often hidden within materials relating to the mixed gay organisations and feminist and women's rights organisations, reflecting the key role played by the lesbian community in political campaigns and lobbying on issues such as law reform and AIDS is collected.
Retrospective bibliographies are collected to assist in identifying relevant historical materials within the Library's early collections as it has only been in recent years that dedicated subject headings for homosexuality have been introduced into library cataloguing systems.
Existing collection
- Printed materials, including flyers and newspapers, ranging from the cheap pulp fiction of the 1960s to the rhetoric of liberation, civil rights and law reform campaigns of the 1970s, to the celebratory public lifestyle of the 1980s and into the current era of normalisation of queer culture reflected in an increased availability of printed and electronic publications documenting specialised interests within the queer community
- Extensive published literature collection includes fiction and pulp fiction reprints of works by gay and lesbian authors
- Gay-themed biographies published in New South Wales
- Oppositional material from religious organisations and community groups such as Festival of Light publications
- Printed materials produced by organisations in New South Wales associated with the gay and lesbian community covering a broad spectrum of activities
- Newspapers, both general and specialised, and newspaper indexes covering New South Wales
- Extensive collection of journals published in New South Wales as well as those titles covered by indexing services such as HIV/AIDS, Australian Public Affairs full-text and FAMILY databases
- Legislation and parliamentary publications including parliamentary debates and reports of inquiries and submissions such as those presented by the Gay Task Force and the Gay and Lesbian Immigration Task Force
- Images which demonstrate changing levels of acceptance of public behaviour
- Original materials relating to gays and lesbians, including diaries and personal papers
- Records of associations
- Handbills, pamphlets, brochures, advertisements and other ephemera advertising events and political demonstrations, holidays, professional services, shops, trades, lobbying and discussion groups, concerts, dances, legal information, maps, programs, projects, conferences, lectures, fairs, entertainment, venues, campaigns
- Electronic resources including online databases and access to Internet resources bookmarked on the Library's Internet links page
Some examples of unique or significant items
- Earthworks Poster Collective collection, 1970s-1990s.
Mitchell Library: PXD 690 - Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras records covering a broad spectrum of activities and attractions through several weeks each year.
- Ephemera on Sydney 2002 Gay Games VI, including official programs, tickets and invitations to ceremonies, sporting events and associated cultural festival events.
- Allan Booth papers and Allan from the monologue Sadness with photographs by William Yang
- Records of GLITF NSW Inc. (Gay and Lesbian Immigration Task Force).
- Robert Dessaix literary papers re: A Mother's Disgrace and Night Letters.
- Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Limited, collection of slides of parades and festival events.
Mitchell Library: Slides 71 - Act Up Sydney records.
- Various examples of Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project propaganda, for example:
- The count & counter report : a study into hate related violence against lesbians and gays
- Final report of the Streetwatch Implementation Advisory Committee
- Homosexual panic defence and other family values
- Lifesaver : the journal of the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project
- The off our backs report : a study into anti-lesbian violence
- ReAction : homophobia : what are you scared of?
- Sydney Star Observer, from 1987-.
- Lesbians on the Loose (LOTL) magazine from 1990 documenting the lesbian culture and community including culture, sport, politics and current affairs.
- Records of the Gay Rights Lobby.
Mitchell Library: MLMSS 4875 - Papers of Brian McGahen.
- Australian Gay & Lesbian Law Journal from 1993.
- At the Cross by Jon Rose, 1961, autobiographical account of gay life in Sydney during World War II.
- All that false instruction by Elizabeth Riley, 1975, the first Australian lesbian novel.
- Rare Sydney and Australian newspapers and magazines including:
- Mejane, No. 1, Mar. 1971-v. 2, no. 2, Apr. 1974.
- Burn, 1993-1994.
- Rouge: Australian feminist newspaper, No. 6, Feb.? 1980-no. 11 April 1981.
- Camp Ink, Vol. 1, no. 1, Nov. 1970-no. 40, Mar. 1977.
- Gay Information, No. 1 Apr. 1980-no. 18, 1987.
- Journal of Australian Lesbian Feminist Studies, Vol. 1, no. 1 June 1991-no. 5, Dec. 1995.
and Mitchell Library: 301.409901
- Conference papers of the first and second National Homosexual Conference.
Mitchell Library: Q301.424/11,11*, Q301.424/14-15 - Socialist Feminist Conference.
- Report of Royal Commission on Human Relationships, 1977.
Mitchell Library: 301.409901/2-6 - Anti-Discrimination Board report, Discrimination and Homosexuality, 1982. Discrimination and homosexuality: a report of the Anti-Discrimination Board, in accordance with Section 119(a) of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977.
