The first edition of what is now known as the Star Observer came out in July 1979. At a time when sex between two consenting men was illegal and same-sex marriage was a pipedream, Michael Glynn launched a bold, new publishing enterprise entirely funded by advertising sales to gay bars and queer-owned businesses.
The first issue combined news of community oppression with fabulous ads from the latest underground leather parties. For those who are too young to know and those of us who are too old to remember: the parties were epic back in the day.
Through the 80s, as the AIDS epidemic claimed far too many lives, the Star Observer was an important source of community news in a world of misinformation, homophobia, and hate. While mainstream media outlets published images of the grim reaper, the Star Observer published obituaries for our lost lovers, relatives, and mates. These ads kept the Star Observer afloat through some of our darkest days.
The 90s
The 90s were the halcyon days of the pink press in Australia. The Sydney Star Observer had grown to become a weekly publication of some 50 pages, employing a formidable team of LGBT journalists, advertising reps, designers, and distributors.
By 1999 almost every major capital city in Australia had two queer publications. The Satellite Group valued the pink press at $25 million when the publicly listed company acquired almost every LGBT publication in Australia. Except for the Star Observer. One year later when the Satellite Group went bust, every queer publication in Australia was shuttered. Except for the Star Observer which remains Australia’s oldest and largest LGBT publication.
As advertising revenues have shifted from print to digital platforms the Star Observer is poised to grow with the times. With a considerable multiyear capital investment from Google courtesy of Australia’s groundbreaking Media Bargaining Code, we have launched a new website. Over the coming years, we will invest substantially in the digital side of our business while continuing to produce a high-quality, free-distribution print magazine.
The Digital Future
Today two digital companies: Google and Facebook suck up 40% of all advertising revenues worldwide. Their machine-generated algorithms decide what information will be shared and with whom. Google Search has been shown to give preference to homophobic content. 73% of all programmatic advertising placed on Google Ad Manager is blocked from LGBT sites. And Facebook is actively killing off all news content across its various digital assets as it embraces a dystopian Metaverse.
Independent queer media outlets are more essential than ever to our community. They empower us. They give voice to our authentic identities. They allow us to tell our stories. To record our history. To hold power to account.
In 2021, global marketing research firm IPSOS surveyed Gen Z respondents across 27 countries worldwide. Nearly 20% of all respondents said they did not identify as straight. More recently a study conducted by YouthSense here in Australia found that a mind-blowing one-third of all Gen Z respondents identified as LGBTQIA+.
In the face of this phenomenal cultural shift, born on the backs of feminists and gay rights activists who disrupted society’s normative binary culture over the last half-century, some conservative groups are threatened. They are attacking our community, shutting down our drag shows, threatening our right to gender-affirming therapy and questioning our very right to exist.
Setting Australia’s Queer Agenda
In the US in response to a similar backlash from right-wing zealots, major profit-driven corporate citizens are getting scared. They are yanking sponsorship budgets that once supported our major Pride festivals. They are pulling ads from some of the last remaining queer media outlets. They are cancelling us.
The same thing could happen here in Australia. Now more than ever we need to support independent queer media: to counter a narrative that allows hate to be disseminated under the banner of balanced reporting, homophobia to thrive in an endless pursuit of clicks and corporate interests to control our own community conversation. In the absence of local queer media, we will lose access to our own home-grown news, views, and voices.
The Star Observer has come a long way since 1979. With the ongoing support of the LGBT community, we will be here to cover, support and promote Australia’s queer agenda over the next 45 years and beyond.
Yes, we do. Pity little old SA has been without any Gay Media for some years now, but then almost, if not all, Gay Venues have long-since disappeared as well and it’s all back into the closet.