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5 Sep 2011

Australia may get its first gay and lesbian museum

A prominent businessman has applied to the local council to establish Australia's first gay and lesbian cultural centre and museum in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood.

Australia's first gay and lesbian cultural centre and museum could be built in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood in coming months, according to local media reports.

Tom McFeely in front of the former church hall that he wants to turn into a gay and lesbian-themed museum

Tom McFeely – owner of gay pub The Peel Hotel and former Liberal Party candidate for the state seat of Richmond – and several other local businesses have applied to Yarra Council to transform the former Congregational Church Hall in Peel St, which has stood empty for many years.

He says he cultural centre and museum would include art exhibits and an interactive museum with displays about the historic struggles of gay and lesbian people, as well as their victories that may otherwise be forgotten.

"There's a time and a place for pride marches but the gay community isn't all about bathers and leather G-strings," McFeely was quoted as saying in The Age newspaper

"The new generation of young people seem to think the battle is over – all we need now is gay marriage – but it's only a few years ago that homosexuality was decriminalised and to this day there are still people in the outer suburbs, in country Victoria, who don't have it as easy as inner-city gays."

He added that he was spurred into action after meeting a young bar staff member who had been forced to move out of home and stop studying medicine because he came out to his parents.

Australian gay history

1700's The first recorded execution for sodomy 

1828-63 People found guilty of sodomy are executed

1899-1900 In the Australian Colonies, the ‘abominable crime of buggery’ is punished by a sentence of life imprisonment 

1950's In 1951, the NSW (New South Wales) Crimes Act is amended to ensure that ‘buggery’ is a criminal act ‘with or without the consent of the person’ – removing legal loophole of consent

1969 It remains a crime for men to engage in homosexual sex in every state and territory in Australia 

1970 In 1970 the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (CAMP) is formed 

1971 CAMP organizes the first gay and lesbian demonstration in Australia outside the headquarters of the Liberal Party in Sydney

1972 The political activist association, Gay Liberation, is launched at Sydney University. Groups soon flourish on campuses around Australia 

1975 The first National Homosexual conference is held at Melbourne University, and attracts around 60 delegates. Under Premier Don Dunstan’s Government, South Australia becomes the first Australian state to decriminalize homosexuality. Campaign, the longest running commercial gay magazine in Australia, is launched 

1976 In ACT (Australian Capital Territory) homosexual law reform legislation is passed

1978 The largest gay rights march in Australia history is held, commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Of the 2,000 odd demonstrators, 53 are arrested on charges of offensive behavior and resisting arrest

Excerpted from www.gaytraveller.com.au

Australia » Victoria » Melbourne

Reader's Comments

1. 2011-09-05 21:16  
pssh what r they gonna put in it?
2. 2011-09-05 21:16  
pssh what r they gonna put in it?
3. 2011-09-05 22:28  
i guess it is going to be as fabulous as rainbow!
4. 2011-09-06 05:10  
@1&2: a giant sized strap on dildo lolz
5. 2011-09-06 08:02  
that's kool. best wishes!!! d(^__^)b
Comment #6 was deleted by an administrator on 2011-09-06 10:46
7. 2011-09-06 12:44  
Good lord, what next? Don't they have anything better to spend their money on?
8. 2011-09-06 18:23  
can someone please invite julia gillard for the opening ceremony and then a thorough tour of the museum?
9. 2011-09-06 23:04  
this i got to see... LOL!
10. 2011-09-07 10:46  
#7 One could say the same about your smoking habit
11. 2011-09-07 13:33  
Great to see something positive happening in our community to celebrate and aknowledge our GLBT culture's past...
12. 2011-09-07 14:01  
Awesome! Love this idea... :) A lot of hard work has gone into the history of creating gay and lesbian culture, not to mention incremental legislative and social change in Australia (and of course globally) around gay and lesbian visibility, acceptance, and rights... I'm very glad that this will be honoured in the creation of a museum space such as the one Tom McFeely is proposing.

Also: LOL @ #10

Comment edited on 2011-09-07 14:02:18
13. 2011-09-10 10:45  
What a kind of Idea !!!! Get more Horizons about Gay.
14. 2011-09-21 12:53  
A museum exploring the breadth of Australian GLBTIQ history is a wonderful idea, a permanent venue for celebrating and disseminating the important and diverse stories of Australian GLBTIQ communities. Such a museum has been the subject of discussions by many individuals and organisations over the years. In many ways there already is a ‘gay museum’ in Melbourne; one which collects, preserves and educates people on Australian GLBTIQ history, albeit one without an exhibition space.

The Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives (www.alga.org.au) which was established in 1978 in Melbourne is a volunteer-run and community-owned collection of over 100,000 items – from oral history interviews to personal papers, magazines to badges. In addition to the development of the collection, it regularly publishes books (including the recent ‘Secret histories of queer Melbourne’ 2011), runs conferences, history walks etc.

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