In 1982, while visiting Los Angeles, I met Harry Hay. I was a young gay liberationist and Marxist feminist and the 70-year-old Hay was a radical icon — Commie, gay pioneer and fearsome critic of gay community sell-outs of every stripe. Harry Hay has left quite a legacy. During the 1940s he reached the bold… Read more »
Posts in: LGBTQ
Catholic Patriarchs Flee from Accountability and Change by Scapegoating Gays
Given its intensely male-dominated hierarchy and extreme anti-woman, anti-sex culture, the sex abuse scandal rocking the American Catholic Church is no surprise. Nor is the church’s record of cover-up, lies, and hypocrisy on the subject, which resembles that of any mega-corporation anxious to avoid prosecution, safeguard its considerable assets, and calm its stockholders. The church’s… Read more »
Review: Gays and Lesbians who changed immigration history
Last February, as part of the Mardi Gras Festival, the Gay and Lesbian Immigration Task Force (GLITF) launched its self-published official history, Lesbians and Gays Changed Australian Immigration History/Herstory. The book is a unique, compelling collection of diverse perspectives in the form of 50 interviews conducted in 2000 by GLITF activist, Peter De Waal. “No… Read more »
Assisted Reproductive Technology: The new pro-choice battleground
It seems the Liberals’ desire for Australian women to have more babies only applies to some women! During the last Federal election campaign, Prime Minister John Howard announced plans to introduce a baby bonus tax incentive to reward women who have a baby and then give up work in order to stay home and look… Read more »
World AIDS care movement wins concessions
Credit goes to the international movement, fighting to win affordable access to HIV medications, for making the biggest dent in the World Trade Organisation’s 2001 agenda. The movement scored three wins. First, the government of the U.S. was forced to drop its charges against Brazil at the WTO, charges which aimed to prevent production and… Read more »
Your Say
An enjoyable radical read I really enjoyed reading Freedom Socialist Bulletin # 24 — some great articles. I particularly enjoyed “I don’t want to let go of my rage” by Maria Mardones and “Loud, Proud and Effective,” the review of Graham Willett’s book, Living Out Loud. I do wish Maria and others the best of… Read more »
Victory for same-sex domestic partnerships: Queers now need economic independence NOT equal dependency
On May 1, the bitter debate in the Victorian Parliament over whether same-sex relationships should have the enjoyed by heterosexuals finally concluded with an overwhelming “yes” vote. Thanks to enormous community pressure, homosexual couples are now equal in a range of matters — from medical decision making to property and state taxes such as stamp… Read more »
New chance to get it right: S11 revives the spirit of Stonewall
There’s a new political mood among young queers. It’s militant and activist! The global anti-corporate movement is rapidly moving beyond protesting the ravages of neoliberalism to opposing capitalism itself. And queers — especially young queers — are at the front lines. The debate of the day is: How to achieve global economic justice — do… Read more »
Satellite nosedive shows queer workers must organise!
The collapse of The Satellite Group — the first publicly listed “pink dollar” company in the world — highlights the sharp class divisions in the gay and lesbian community. In 1999, Satellite blasted onto the scene, buying up 80 percent of Australia’s queer press — including the national magazine, Outrage — and establishing a media… Read more »
Solving the problem of HIV/AIDS
Melbourne — World AIDS Day, 1 December 2000 was marked by a resurgence of militancy. A Speak Out organised by Queers United to Eradicate Economic Rationalism (QUEER), which put forward both local and international demands, also celebrated the achievements of 17 years of organising to defeat HIV/AIDS. Activism worked then… Veteran gay liberationist and historian,… Read more »
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