Victoria’s robust LGBTI history proudly displayed in new online exhibition

CULTURE Victoria and the Australian Gay and Lesbian Archives (AGLA) have come together to tell the story of two movements that helped shape the state’s LGBTI identity.

Daylesford Stories and Out of the Closets, Into the Streets are two online exhibitions which highlight the pioneering struggles that have led to diverse and robust LGBTI communities in Victoria.

Daylesford is a picturesque town at the foot of Victoria’s Great Dividing Range and has long been both a popular tourist destination for the LGBTI community.

Daylesford Stories explores the ideas of community, identity and belonging. Through the personal stories of individual community members, the exhibition looks at how and why this region has become a place of meaning for the LGBTI community.

The online exhibition also features two short-length documentaries made by local production companies, Wind and Sky Productions and Way Back When.

Out of the Closets, Into the Streets tells the story of the moment in the 1970s when gay and lesbian people took to the streets, coming out and proud to challenge the status quo.

It was a time when in Melbourne a group of students made a stand for gay pride at a time when homosexuality was criminalised and discrimination and abuse was widespread.

Through the manifestos, photographs, flyers and recollections of those who were part of the movement, the digital exhibition explores the ways in which gay people found their voice in Melbourne, and refused to pass for straight anymore.

“These new online exhibitions and docos provide a rare opportunity to listen to and read firsthand accounts of critical moments in Australian LGBTI history, from the birth of gay liberation to the formation of a unique rural queer community,” said AGLA committee member, Nick Henderson.

“It includes many items that have never been seen before, like Super8 footage of gay liberation and women’s liberation protest marches from 1973.”

You can view Daylesford Stories by clicking this link and Out of the Closets, Into the Streets by clicking this link.