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DEMONSTRATION IN SYDNEY ON 3 MARCH 1990 AGAINST INCREASING GAY BASHINGS IN RECENT TIMES AND HOMOPHOBIA (Photo from Sydney Morning Herald)
This it the first issue of what we hope will be Gay Solidarity Group's monthly newsletter. GSG grew out of a renewed focus on lesbian and male homosexual oppression around the 9th anniversary of the US Stonewall riots in June last year. Because many saw the need for an active struggle for our liberation and because of the continued direct repression of the struggle, an unprecedented radicalisation occurred. GSG grew and so did its activity. Hence the need for a newsletter to reach the gay community generally and the various groups throughout Australia - and internationally. We are also searching for suitable premises to facilitate our ongoing activity.
GSG aims to represent the whole gay community, but also because of the predominance of male activists our representation of lesbians has been limited. We recognise this to be a major limitation and therefore urge more women to become involved. And while we support the alion of women and recognise its close links with gay liberation, it is only through the active participation of feminists that this becomes more than just a theory. However, we intend to demonstrate our active support for women's liberation as we have done in the past, {eg August 27, 1978 demonstration against the Right to Life's abortion rally.) And if our plans for International Gay Solidarity week of June this year are to be a success we need more active support from the gay community as a whole.
We hope that we can increase our working co-operation with other groups and individuals in the lesbian and male homosexual movement in all our projects.
Most people are aware now that 72 people arrested at Taylor Square on the Conference March has their charges withdrawn on January 26 at Sydney's Central Police Courts.
However, the charges against people arretted at the Mardi Gras (June 24), Central Police Court (June 26). Darlinghurst Police Lock-Up (July 15) and Hyde Park (Aug 27) WERE NOT WITHDRAWN.
Gay Solidarity approached the COUNCIL FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES in February requesting that the Council apply to the Police Commissioner to have all these charges dropped even though some people have already had convictions recorded against them on these charges.
Gay Solidarity decided to make this specific approach because all direct approaches to the Premier and the Commissioner so far have been to no avail.
ABUSIVE LETTERS: Some of those whose charges were withdrawn on January 26 have received anonymous letters by post addressed to them according to the manner the Sydney Morning Herald published the list (for a second time) on Saturday. January 27. It you received such a letter or know someone else who did. will you please contact Ken Lovett and give him the details so that GSG can bring the matter before the Press Council again. (GSG. Box 380, Post Office, Broadway 2007).. One person who received one of these letters has already taken the matter up with the NSW Privacy Committee.
POLICE RECORDS: We urge all people who had charges withdrawn or whose cases have been heard and they have been acquitted, to write to the Commissioner of NSW Police, asking for the records of their fingerprints, photographs, etc. to be destroyed immediately,
IF YOU DONT MAKE THE REQUEST THE LAW DOES NOT REQUIRE THE POLICE* TO DESTROY THESE RECORDS.
One person from the Conference March that we know of has gone further and asked that his records be destroyed in his presence. He also asked that ALL CHARGES against the people at the other demonstrations be dropped as well especially in view of the fact that one arrestee from the MARDI GRAS had that charge also withdrawn on Jan. 26 WITHOUT REASON.
GSG will keep on agitating for charges against all these people to be dropped and suggests that individuals also continue to keep on agitating in letters to Parliament.
Ken Lovett 5.3.79Q. Recently, Marg, you were granted custody of your daughter but her father has now appealed against that decision. Is an appeal unusual?
M. Well, only about one case in every thousand passes on to the Appeals Court. The case is heard fully at general court level. The grounds for appeal hinge largely on whether you think the judge has erred at law or feel that you can introduce new evidence which could be valid.
Q. Are decisions often reversed?
M. Very few appeals are successful despite new evidence introduced. Seldom is it considered that the judge has erred at law. Usually the appeal revolves around a controversial issue —the lesbianism of the mother for instance. It is thought that lesbianism will be seen to be wrong at a higher level. In my case, my husband is fighting to have the decision reversed on the grounds that I an a lesbian.
Q. Do lesbian mothers have much success in custody cases?
M. In the past, no. However, under the new Family Law Act they have a better chance but discrimination is still levied against lesbians despite the new legislation.
There have been several successful cases in W.A. Psychologist, Vivianne Cass, has presented evidence which supports the claim that lesbian mothers are capable and responsible parents. In W.A. lesbian parents can contact C.A.M.P. for support and advice, now, in reference to child custody.
Things are pretty bad in Qld however. A woman there recently lost all her four children even though her husband, who was granted custody, had been a politically active gay. He has now married and was the "repentant sinner" in the witness box.
In Victoria there have been a couple of victories. However, one woman who had won custody of her children but was not allowed to live with her lover defaulted and the court took the children away and put them in foster homes.
Almost without exception there are conditions placed on the lesbian parent who is granted custody, e.g. not to live with her lover, not to let the children know about her lesbianism, or there are visits every fortnight or so by a court supervisor.
There has been a case in S.A. where the lesbian mother was granted custody of her children because the husband was an alcoholic and because the court saw lesbianism as the lesser of the two "evils."
In my case there were no conditions.
Q. How do you think the appeal will go?Once a case goes to court barrister's fees are $400 a day while the solicitor who briefs the barrister costs up to $300 a day but mine both cut their fees for me.
Normally cases run for only two days but this one went for four and I was in court for two days earlier when we had to argue about late affidavits and have my access to my daughter extended so she could stay with me until the case was heard.
It will probably cost me another $2000 —I hope it does not go any higher. I just don't know where it's going to come from.
By the time the whole thing is over, I will have paid out close to $7000.
Q. But was it really necessary to have that kind of representation in court?
M. If you mean ... fight your own case. Take my advice. Don't! You'll get done like a dinner. The Australian Legal Aid Office can be politically aware —if you get the right person but you can't alwoya choose who you want because soLabody is generally appointed to act for you and if that person i3 biased you're lost.
There is ao much groundwork that has to be done which you can't possibly cope with yourself. You need somebody who knows tho legal system.
Q . From your past experience what would you say are the most important aspects of winning a case?Don't just look in the telephone directory and go to anybody or take just anybody's advice. So many cases are lost this way ... because you think justice will prevail. When you start going the rounds make sure in discussing your case that you get an honest interpretation of it. If you see that the counsel you are considering are not willing to fight it at really grass roots level, get out! There is no way they will compromise themselves in court.
Q. Will you explain what you mean —at grass roots level?Any counsel who tries to put you off —who doesn't suggest that you get down to things straight away— who suggests that the whole thing can be fought in court and doesn't need much preparation— is a counsel to avoid.
I found that one of the most important things, and the most exhausting, was getting the original affidavits drawn up. It took me and my solicitor almost a whole day. If counsel is not willing to put this time and effort into this very important first step of the case, find another one who will.
Time spent with your counsel is important. It enables that counsel to get to know you as a person too. They have to know how you are going to stand up in court. It's important that you know each other and have confidence in each other because things get pretty nasty in that courtroom.
Q, Weren't you really depressed by the enormity of the task and the cost involved?In many cases lesbian mothers are apologetic about themselves in court ... "we'd never let our children know." What kind of self-demeaning picture must they have of themselves? What kind of picture comes across to the judge and other people in that court? Certainly not one of self-acceptance.
Why shouldn't our kids know? They have every right to know the real you, otherwise how can they trust you? Dishonesty and denial can only set up unresolvable tensions in a relationship between mother and child. Their security surely depends on how much they think thoy can trust you and surely that demands a healthy, open relationship.
Other lesbian mothers get angry at what they see is intolerance against them and the idea that being a lesbian automatically disqualifies you from being a loving, supportive mother. This is where I had the most difficulty because my anger rises very quickly against intolerance of any sort. In a courtroom, however, one must present a positive, healthy image of oneself within the rules and procedures of the court. That can be hairy when an opposing counsel is hammering derogatory, demeaning and dirty questions and accusations at you.
Apart from your own solicitor/counsel, there is no support for you in that courtroom yet you must maintain your cool and a positive sense of yourself throughout what will be a harrowing cross examination. That's why I think a conscious and thorough examination of oneself and a determined effort at self-interpretation is needed before the court case. By that I mean honestly coming to grips with all aspects of your sexuality and how you feel about it because if you don't it will certainly show in court.
It's also why I think support groups of friends and interested people can help you come to terms with any uncertainty, repressed anger and negative feelings you have about yourself or your lifestyle,.
Q. Marg, did your daughter accept you on this basis?
M. I'm sure of it. For instance, in such custody cases a separate hearing for the child with separate representation is quite usual. My daughter rejected this and insisted on sticking by me and the legal representation I had arranged. I had her complete trust.
One of the greatest needs for lesbian mothers at the moment is somewhere to contact for political support, back-up, and legal information before their cases go to court. Perhaps GSG is an ideal group where this could occur.
Q. Is there any mileage in a political campaign?We must keep heaping info on the desks of the people who count over and over and over again to make them question their position.
STAR GAYS GET THE BOUNCE"The Star Goes 'Straight'! No more 'puffs' at the Star; No more 'Camping' in our new Guitar Bar ... SO, GO STRAIGHT TO THE STAR."
This advertisement appeared during January in the Newcastle Morning Herald and drew a swift response from Newcastle Gays and GSG.
On Saturday, February 3, a GSG group arrived by train from Sydney and were joined by some 20 or more Newcastle supporters to picket the Star Hotel, Newcastle. They paraded quietly outside the Star with placards deploring the disgraceful action of the licensee, Don Graham, who has even gone as far as sacking gay bar workers — some after nine years there.
In Hunter Street, outside the hotel, police were well in evidence along with a small crowd of onlookers.
Inside 10 bouncers, hired by Don Graham, hovered behind the Star's windows waiting to resist anyone who may have wished to enter even for the most legitimate reason — to buy a drink. But the hotel remained closed despite the fact that it was Saturday lunchtime. According to the Newcastle Morning Herald, Graham, in an interview said: "Maybe I am discriminating against them (homosexuals) but the main thing is that I have removed the stigma associated with the name of the hotel."
He went on to say that he had tolerated gays for five years and had been waiting a long time to get rid of them and that since he started his campaign in January, business had picked up considerably.
The Gay Solidarity Group wants to know how he distinguishes between straights and gays. Does the "stigma" show on gays' foreheads or ss there a mote in his eye?
On January 30 GSG appealed direct to the Advertising Standards Council, the Anti-Discrimination Board, the Newcastle Morning Herald, the Press Council, the Association ot Newcastle Advertisers, the Musicians Union and the Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union. The Group demanded that the advertisement be withdrawn immediately.
As well the Group pointed out that the advertisement breached anti-discrimination legislation. It therefore required explanations from the licensee of his intolerant attitude and how he intended to apply his bans against the hotel's staff and patrons.
The Advertising Standards Council chairperson Sir Richard Kirby, has ordered Don Graham to provide the explanations. The Newcastle Herald reported on February 9 that Graham "was seeking legal advice" before answering the letter from Kirby.
In a reply to G5G on March 7, the Anti-Discrimination Board stated that the advertisement and the licensee's attitude, offensive though they are, are not actionable under the NSW Act. The Newcastle Herald, defending itself, has said that the advertisement was only printed because its staff was unaware of the meanings attributed to the words "puffs" — "camping" — and "straight". Ho, hum — remember the Herald reporter murder a little over a year ago? And the gay witch-hunt that followed.
The Herald, however, agreed not to print the advertisement again.
K.LOn March 26 1979, Roger Moody will go on trial at the Old Bailey for a crime he did not commit. The chances that he will be sentenced to up to 5 years imprisonment, however, are very high.
Roger Moody hat worked in England for many years as a peace activist; he has been an editor of "Peace News", which has more than once embarrassed the authorities through its articles. He is also well known to many Australian aborigines and indigenous peoples of other lands for the work he does with indigenous rights. He was one of the people involved in the beginning of the Stop Unenco Alliance, a transnational strategy group opposing the German/Dutch/British uranium consortium
In November 1977 Roger's home was raided by a squad ol policemen. They held a warrant alleging that Roger published obscene material. Hundreds of items belonging to Roger, including published and unpublished articles, letters, magazines and personal photograph albums were carted off in the raid. Roger was arrested on alleged assault on young boys. He was held in custody for the next 36 hours. He was finally released without charges being laid against him. Detective-Sergeant Wilson who is masterminding the case against Roger prides himself on being Ms Whitehouse's (and the Home Office's) police "adviser" on child pornography. There are some striking anomalies in the whole affair:
At no time has any child or parent ever complained to the police about Roger's conduct or relationship with kids.
The police knew nothing about the boys known to Roger until their raid in November 1977. The offence is alleged to have taken place in summer 1976 - 15 months before Roger's arrest and nearly 3 years before the Old Bailey trial.
The police traced and exhaustively "interviewed" ten other boys with whom Roger has had close relationships, mainly through his work as one of the pioneers of "Adventure Play" in the United Kingdom. Four of these boys were held for a total of about 12 hours and subjected to considerable police pressure before making certain "confessions". Later all the boys withdrew their statements, saying the police "forced us into telling lies."
In their "softening up" of one of the parents of the boys, the police alleged that Roger has published "pornographic pictures all over the world," that "he was one of the leading lights of P.I.E. (Pedophile Information Exchange)" and that they were out to "have him" The third statement is manifestly true, the others have no basis in fact.
The persecution of a homosexual in an attempt to silence his criticism of the British Government's uranium policy and the uranium industry must be opposed. Internationally we can help make sure Roger is not imprisoned. For example people can write to the Home Secretary, London. S.W.I,. U.K. demanding the charges be dropped. If there are letters it is easier for Roger and his lawyers to appeal
For further information contact Gay Solidarity.
ADDENDUMThere is another current case in Britain that is similar.
On the tenth of February, almost two hundred people marched in Bradford, demanding that charges of "buggery and indecent assault of a minor" against Frank Kelly be dropped. Kelly is a local anti-fascist activist.
Tony Adams was murdered in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 3 1978. Hit body was found in his apartment; his throat had been cut, and he had been stabbed several times.
Salt Lake City is a mormon town. Conservative; and vicious towards minorities. Gays who have been excommunicated from the church have been receiving letters reminding them that the scriptures demand death by stoning for the sin of homosexuality.
It'i not easy to be a militant in a place like Salt Lake City, but Tony Adams had the courage to fight on. He was a 25 year old black bus driver. He was homosexual, and an activist in the struggle for gay liberation. He was a socialist, who became well-known through his work in his union, in supporting the Equal Rights Amendment for Women, and in anti-racist campaigns.
There have been quite a few homosexuals killed in Utah in the last year. The cops have responded to these murders with a massive campaign of harassment and entrapment of the gay community.
A tew days before he was killed, Tony Adams had won his trial on "soliciting" charges. He'd helped expose the cops' entrapment frame-up racket. Police reports on the murder have so many irregularities, that local newspapers have said that police complicity, or at least a cover-up is obvious.
Gay. feminist, labour, left, and civil libertarian organisations in Utah are demanding a proper inquiry into the murder, and into the reluctance of the police to investigate it.
GSG has sent its support to this call.
G.S.G. MESSAGE TO THE MARCH 31 ABORTION RALLYThe Gay Solidarity Group brings the greetings of militant lesbians and male homosexuals to this rally.
Both our campaigns are fighting for a world where we can live and love freely, with no laws, no prejudice, nothing dragging us down.
Recently, right-wing mobilisations against our rights as women, as lesbians, as male homosexuals, and police attacks on our marches, have led us to work more closely with each other.
We have been shouting several slogans together:
CONTROL OF OUR BODIES, CONTROL OF OUR LIVES ; GAY RIGHTS. WOMENS RIGHTS, DROP THE CHARGES NOWBecause of this we see success in your campaign for abortion rights, for free contraception, and against forced sterilization, as being a step towards our freedom too.
LONG LIVE FEMINISM; LONG LIVE GAY LIBERATIONThe Stonewall Inn, an after-hours gay bar on Christopher Street was raided by the New York City Police on June 27, 1969. This action was not unusual. What was unusual was that the patrons retaliated The police barricaded themselves inside the bar and until reinforcements arrived the customers pelted them with stones and bottles. When the "reinforcements" arrived some arrests were made and the crowd disbanded.
The following night, June 28, gay people and sympathisers gathered in Sheridan Square to protest the police actions of the night before. The slogan "Gay Power" began to be shouted and there was scuffling with the police. Skirmishes with the police continued over the next four nights.
Stonewall has been marked each year since then with Christopher Street Llberation Day celebrations.
"We can let nothing change or spoil the joy this day means to us each year. Degrading remarks by hecklers only expose them, and try to make us defend what we know already: that we are Gay and Proud ... On this day, there are Christopher Street Liberation Day marches taking place in more than 70 cities around the world. Ws are each of us participants in a joyous and historic international celebration of love and pride."
(Part of a circular put out by the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee for the 1971 Stonewall celebrations.)
Following are two accounts of the first annual Stonewall celebrations.
WE DID IT!For some people the march was the thing. Or getting to the park, "TOGETHER. Together!' And right onto that.
But for many people the whole week had been one of the busiest, most fruitful weeks of their lives and that was that. It had been a week of gay pride. It had been a week of saying "Do you know what week this is?" And answering, "Yes, it's gay pride week." It had been a time of walking up to people you didn't know and watching their faces when they read things handed to them that said "THIS IS GAY PRIDE WEEK" AND THAT WAS THAT. It was a fact. Whether you were gay, straight, or ambidexterous, that was it. It was Gay Pride Week just like the coming of a holiday you've never heard about and suddenly discovered and the holiday became a time and feeling, a mass feeling, like Mardi Gras.
Sunday night some us were tired. The festival had exploded in front of us like a great fireworks that we had only hoped would come off and wow, had it, but we were very tired from meeting new people from all over the country and feeding them at Washington Square Church and hassling with winoes and dancing at GAA's massive dance of GLF's little dances vibrant with twisting, joyous circle dances, and workshops at AU, and sit-ins, and from people. Most of all from people, new people, old people, angry and loving people tired from coming out and being ourselves, a much harder trip than the three mile walk from Sheridan Square to the Park, not walking in protest but in affirmation that we exist and are together to love together and we are gay and WE ARE GAY PRIDE WEEK.
CHRISTOPHER STREET LIBERATION DAYIt celebrated a battle
Sheridan Square looked less than normal. Queens and young
street people were conspicuously absent, it was early. A 12-year-old walking along with his father nervously laughed "They're all over."
If you are a lesbian woman or a gay man, and you want to get together with others to fight our oppression, we'd like you to come along to our meetings. The demands the group is based on are:
1. Drop the charges against all those arrested in the gay rights marches in 1978.The later part of the meeting, (7.30 on), is open for any individuals and organizations in the gay community who want to help plan GAY SOLIDARITY WEEK in June.
We want a more exciting name for this production, but we couldn't think one up. If you submit the neatest,most stunning suggestion, you will win a simply fabulous mystery prize. Besides, won't you just revel in telling your friends that you were the one who thought UD the the name of the most brilliant magazine in world history?
So get those brain cells rolling, get those entries in!
CURRENT NEWSLETTER AND ARCHIVE OF PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS
Mannie has a personal web site: RED JOS: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM
Mannie's blogs may be accessed by clicking on to the following links:
MannieBlog (from 1 August 2003 to 31 December 2005)
Activist Kicks Backs - Blognow archive re-housed - 2005-2009
RED JOS BLOGSPOT (from January 2009 onwards)
This page updated 18 SEPTEMBER 2014 and again on 8 MAY 2018
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