Before Mardi Gras - Graham Willett

The Homosexual Law Reform Society (Canberra, 1969), the Daughters of Bilitis (Melbourne 1970), the Campaign Against Moral Persecution (Sydney 1970) - names that are largely unknown these days. But the movement that they founded spent its first decade in the streets, in the corridors of power, in the schools and the union and churches. Activists published newspapers and flyers and ran radio programs. They graffitied and pasted up posters. They lobbed eggs and lobbied. They danced and kissed in public; produced and wore badges.

The Seventies were a decade of struggle for recognition, reform and respect. It was a decade that changed Australian society. When the NSW police attacked the first Mardi Gras in 1978, they were taking on forces that they barely knew existed.

This book examines the often-overlooked first decade of lesbian and gay rights activism in Australia, when the foundations for our communities were laid.