July 1980: Star Observer’s one year anniversary edition

WITH asylum seekers continuing to be a hot topic of debate in Australian politics, including LGBTI asylum seekers, a front cover that has emerged from Star Observer’s archives has provided a timely reminder that the issue has been relevant for a long time.

On the front cover of the July 1980 edition of Star Observer — then known as The Sydney Star and published fortnightly — two stories focused on gay refugees and immigrants.

 

The first story, MCC Pledges Funds To Aid Gay Refugees, looks at how the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches had donated $60,000 to help around 10,000 Cuban gay men and lesbians being held in detention centres in various locations around the US.

The other story, Democrats Adopt Party Plank On Gay, Immigration Issues, was a re-published story from The Advocate — the longest-running LGBT publication in the US — that looked at how the Democratic Platform Committee had approved a gay civil rights clause for the 1980 party platform. The historic clause also included a statement on the US immigration official’s then-confusing and embarrassing treatment of foreign gay men and women.

Other stories on the front include how pioneering gay rights group CAMP were set to appoint its new secretary, and news of the Sixth National Conference for Lesbians and Homosexual Men in Sydney.

While the Star Observer back then was planning to celebrate its one-year anniversary with a party, on the flip side, the community-run Lambda Radio was forced to switch off due to lack of support.

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