By Shane Hopkinson
Earlier this month a groundbreaking exhibition opened at Newcastle Regional Museum. "Hunter Pride: A Celebration of the Lives and Loves of the Hunter Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Community" is the first community sponsored, local exhibition of gay and lesbian history in the region.
The exhibition is part of a larger lesbian and gay social history project begun in 1992 by the University of Newcastle and the Hunter's lesbian and gay communities. Research began in 1993 with the collection of oral histories and the project was eventually incorporated into the Hunter's bicentenary celebrations this year.
Unable to find a sponsor, fundraising events were held to finance the exhibition.
The exhibit covers a wide spectrum of gay and lesbian history. The first recorded punishment for a homosexual act in the Hunter appears to have been in January, 1819 when convict Eden Hewitt was given 50 lashes for a "detestable and unnatural crime". The first sodomy trial in the Hunter was in Singleton in 1841. James Cameron, a free immigrant, was acquitted of sodomy but found guilty of assault and sentenced to three years in jail. In 1867, at Raymond Terrace, two gay bullock drivers were spied on by the local constabulary, charged and given the death penalty, later commuted to five years hard labour.
In postwar Newcastle, a distinct homosexual subculture developed. In 1952 a menswear shop owner, Keith Robinson, and several others were tried for "abominable offences". The press had a field day about the level of "perversion" that existed in the city and the rumour that emerged that the "pervert gang" wore yellow socks and ties made these garments an important symbol of solidarity in the gay community.
Lesbian history is even more difficult to recover. Women's friendships were often seen as romantic rather than sexual and female homosexuality was not a crime. Nevertheless, the exhibition recalls some intriguing incidents (such as the building of a separate prison for "unruly women" in 1816) and records the strong oral history of the lesbian community.
This fascinating exhibition also includes a chronology of gay and lesbian venues, the various social and support groups that existed over the years, the publications they produced and activities they organised.