Calling all history buffs

The Pride History Group will send a Sydney contingent of queer historians to the ninth Australian Homosexual Histories Conference at Melbourne University on December 4 and 5.

Conference organisers are seeking submissions from people interested in presenting papers on the history of Australia’s gay and lesbian community.

We are especially interested in papers with an historical perspective, although sociological, discursive, legal, cultural and other approaches are also welcome, event organisers from the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives said.

Pride History Group president Dianne Minnis encouraged budding history enthusiasts to take part in remembering queer stories.

It’s about connecting but it’s also about sharing knowledge and sharing when people are doing different types of research, Minnis said.

It’s an area of historical research that’s growing as we move towards the 40th anniversary of the movement. One of the areas we want to present on will be an introduction to the 40th anniversary of the Australian gay and lesbian movement which is coming up.

As part of those 40th anniversary celebrations, Minnis hopes the next Homosexual Histories conference could be staged in Sydney during history week in September 2010.

We’d also be interested in having some general interest events rather than just research reports and papers, she said.

Noting our history is important, because otherwise we won’t remember it and we won’t preserve our history for younger members of the community or for generations to come.

info: For more on the Homosexual Histories conference email Graham Willett at [email protected] or Yorick Smaal at [email protected].