Metro Australia – July 2019

in theprocess.Mostdistressingly,thereis thelesbianwho

endureda ‘leucotomy’(analternativetermforlobotomy)to

‘correct’hersexuality.In anaffectlesstone,sheexplainsthat

shecannolongerworkbecauseherconcentrationhasbeen

so impaired:‘My creativityhas been destroyed.I used to paint

a bit and write poetry.I can’t do that anymore.Whichhas

madethingsprettymeaningless.’Severelydepressedasshe

wasatthetimeofsurgery,a teamofmaledoctorsdecided

onherbehalfthatsheshouldhavetheprocedure.Alongside

the vigoroustide of activismthat Duncancharts,these first-

personstorieshumanisea population that was deprived of

a voice for far too long.

Suchgenuinediversityofrepresentationchimeswiththe

film’s broadsociohistoricalreach.There is a wider objective

underpinningWitchesand Faggots,Dykesand Poofters: a

commitmenttoeducatingitsaudience(whetherLGBTQIA+or

heterosexual)abouttheoppressionofqueerpeoplethrough-

out history and across cultures. As Duncan explains:

The film, even with only a brief documentationof this history,

revealstherealityoftheoppressionofhomosexualpeople

and how relentlesslyin the nameof gods,kings and ‘our way

of life’, this oppression has been perpetrated.^30

Theopeningsequenceis a

montagethatlocatesthelocal

conversationaboutgayrights

withina historicalframeworkof

hysteria,prejudiceandabuse

datingbacktotheMiddleAges.

Thevoiceoveris deliveredby

Jude Kuring,best knownfor her

roleasNoelineBurkein theTV

seriesPrisoner(which,coinci-

dentally,hasgoneontobecome

a cultlesbianseries^31 ). Medievalmusicsetsa sombretone

thatemphasisesthesadlyenduringcorrelationbetween‘then’

and the year that the film was recorded.Still imagesaccom-

panya voiceoverdescribingthecrimeof‘heresy’,whichsaw

women,includinglesbians,labelled‘witches’andburnedat

the stake.Kuringexplainsthat the bodiesof gay men were

used as wood for fires (whichwere referredto as ‘faggots’).

Sheclaimsthatsomehomosexualmenin Naziconcentration

campswereaskedto‘prove’theirheterosexualitybyraping

women.The film proceedsto referenceStalinistRussia,the

1950s‘witch-hunts’ofUSsenatorJosephMcCarthy,through

totheStonewallriotsthatprovokedtheInternationalDayof

GaySolidarity,whichAustralia’s‘dykesandpoofters’chose

to commemorateon 24 June 1978 – the day of the first Mardi

Gras.Threadedthroughoutthesequenceareearlyexamples

of queer protestand the fledglingassemblyof activistgroups.

While the eventsdepictedin the montageare filtered

througha Western(predominantlyEuropean/US)lens, it is an

effectivetoolforestablishinga contextbeyondtheisolated

geographyof Australia.At the same time, it signalsthe doc-

umentary’sintentionto presenta dialogueaboutfilm-as-

activism;themodeofaddressmovesbetweenprovocative

andderisive,andthereis notakingupofanobjectiveposi-

tion, nor any attemptto flesh out nuancewithinthe events

referenced.However,this is very much in keepingwith the

style and aestheticsof the film.Witchesand Faggots,Dykes

and Pooftersis not a ‘naturalistic’recordof reality:in fact,

it uses the documentary formtoreorient the representation

of gays and lesbians.The film’s privilegingof authenticity

helps it developan emergingrepresentationallanguagethat

furthersthepoliticalagendasofradicallesbianfeminism

andgayhumanrights.Thedirect-to-cameraaddressofthe

‘talkinghead’is usedwhenrecordingmanyoftheactivists

sharingtheirexperiences;thisshapestheillusionof‘reality’

while intensifyingthe film’s politicalovertones.In this way,

the goals of activism,affirmative representation and gay

liberationarealigned.

Thetalkingheadsareintercutwitha roving(oftenfrenetic)

handheldcamerathatpresentsan‘on-the-ground’activist’s

pointofviewoftheMardiGrasstreetpartyaswellasthe

subsequentarrests.Oneofthearrestedwomendescribesher

inhumanetreatmentatDarlinghurstprison, where they were

held in a small cell for six hours:

Whenwearrivedat Darlinghurst[...]I wasshovedintoa small

roomwithtwenty­fourotherwomen.Andthiscellwasreally

designedfor two people,and we had twenty­four of us. The

spacewasn’tsufficientfor us all to lie downtogether.There

wasonetoiletin themiddleofthiscellthatthetwenty­four

of us had to use, and we couldn’teven get a drink of water,

whichweaskedforrepeatedly.Andthenwewerejustleftfor

hours, and, like, nobodytold us we couldmake a phonecall

oranythinglikethat.Andwhenwe

askedfor our rights, we were told,

‘What rights?’

Thisis justoneincidentin a damn-

ingcatalogueofpoliceactions

thatignoredtheprotesters’rights.

A perfectlylegaleveningevent

thathadbeenapprovedbythe

policeturnedintoa violentand

bloodystand-off.Therecollec-

tions of abusecapturedin the film also highlightthe commu-

nity’scontemptforthepolice;insteadofprotectingthestreets

fromviolence,thelattersetouttotakethestreetsbackfrom

thequeerrevellers.One young man recalls his experience, his

anger palpable:

Theyjustarrestedpeopleandthrewthemin thepaddywagons.

I saw peoplebeingdraggedby their hair, punchedin the face,

draggedby their legs, draggedacrossthe road. Just every

singlerightthata person’sentitledtoin Australiahasbeen

blatantlydeniedbythepolice.Andthisstationhas just lived

up to its reputation, as far as I’m concerned.

Thepolicecontinuedtobreachestablishedprotocol,even

goingsofarastoclosethecourthouseduringthehearings

of those arrested.This meantthat friends,familyand allies

werenotabletosupportthearrestedprotesters.

SomeofthemostpowerfulfootageinWitchesand Faggots,

Dykesand Pooftersis capturedduringheatedexchangesat

a meetingthatwasheldtodecidetheactivists’nextmoves.

Passionate,rage-filledand indignant,these meetingsshow

ustherallyingofanoppositionalvoice.Thisis Duncan’s

favouritescenein the film:^32 shootingthemeetingwassen-

sitive,asmanyactivistsdidn’twantthemselvesappearing.

Theyfearedthatexposurewouldleadtodiscrimination,so

the filmmakersagreedto keep one side of the room out of

theshot,tocaptureonlythosewhowerewilling.Inthisway,

the production conditions intersected with the sociopolitical

WitchesandFaggots,DykesandPoofters

isnota ‘naturalistic’recordofreality:

infact,itusesthedocumentar yform

toreorienttherepresentationofgays

andlesbians...thegoalsofactivism,

affirmativerepresentationand

gay liberation are aligned.

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