Bondi Badlands Historical Violence Walking Tour

Went to ACON’s Bondi Badlands Historical Violence Walking Tour today. Author/journalist Greg Callaghan filled us in on each victim’s life story and pointed out the general vicinity of where they had been murdered by juvenile homophobic gangs. It was organised by ACON project manager for safety, inclusion and historical justice, the lovely Michael Atkinson.

The walk, around the clifftop from Bondi Icebergs to Tamarama, started off sunny, but was soon totally freezing with biting wind and rain and we were huddled together with heads bowed like those penguins during winter in Antartica. Luckily, we found shelter at the public toilets in Marks Park — a popular beat where many post-Mardi Gras parties and celebrations had been held. It was also, unfortunately, the scene of many murderous homophobic crimes. But happily, it will also be where a memorial will be placed to remember those we lost.

I used to live in Bondi during 1991-1994, and the clifftop walk was a renowned danger spot at night, as there were no railings, no lighting, and gangs of drunk youths used to hang around there, do drugs and bash people.

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Madd Club — Lance Leopard

Made a short vid about our visit to Maynard’s Madd Club held at Red Bar, Glebe.

Renowned gay columnist Lance chose the first hour of songs, then we enjoyed Maynard’s picks. Vids played in the background, some featuring long-gone friends from GLBTIQ events held since the early 2000s.

Fancy a game of Scrabble?

six people playing scrabble
And the Gold Logie goes to…

Six of us went round to David’s for a fun games night — Scrabble, the TV Week Trivia board game and Cards Against Humanity.

Was totally shocked at the unbridled cheating from some gameplayers, with pieces and cards being swapped when noone was looking.

TV Week board game

The TV Week Trivia board game was incredible — it had been sealed intact since 2005, so this was the first time it was opened. The drawback was that many of the questions were very dated, but we still managed to guess a Who Am I? (Kylie Minogue) and several Gold Logie winners from back in the day. A highlight was the six Logie-shaped playing pieces!

Are “ne” and “lum” even words? Apparently so, says Scrabble online dictionary.

Scrabble was ferociously contested, with constant requests to check which 2-letter words were acceptable. There were begging pleas to “open up the board” as some players strategically didn’t want to easily give away a triple word score. L made several heroic efforts to get rid of her letter “Q”.

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Sydney LGBTIQA Mardi Gras

It was the 40th Anniversary and so amazing. The numerous dance venues created a mini city and it was as buzzy and packed as the peak 1990s era.

Was privileged to be sitting next to a 78er, Peter McEwan from Melbourne, while waiting for Cher’s performance. He’d visited Sydney in 1978 for a national homosexual conference at Paddington Town Hall, and was involved in the protests. “The agenda back then used to include fighting in solidarity for everyone — access to abortion, refugees, women’s rights. I wish that solidarity was still around today. Other issues are important too.” He prefers the term “Queer” to “Gay”, as it’s more gender fluid.

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Mary Ward

mumchat (1)

Mary wanted an upbeat celebration of her life, as she had been blessed with an incredibly wonderful and rich life. She often said it was the people in her life who’d made it so great.

EARLY YEARS

It all began in Leeds in 1939 — Mary was always proud of being a Yorkshire lass, with three other siblings, Patrick, Christine and Bernard, and her loving parents, Annie and Thomas. It was a terrible blow when her younger brother and sister died later on (“It’s like losing two legs from a table. The table is still standing but it’s a bit wobbly.”). Her memories of Leeds were of a close community of friends and cousins, especially Margaret, Pauline and Tony, who used to meet every Sunday morning after mass at the Holy Family Church with around 15 people in the room, chatting for hours. Mary was often asked to read aloud at school due to her lovely voice and reading skills and was very proud of a scholarship she won at 11 to go to a private girls’ school.

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