Metro Australia – July 2019

beaten.The film tracksthe subsequentmarchesand protests
overthefollowingtwomonthsthatsawa staggeringtotalof
178 arrests.^7 We see the Drop the Chargescommitteecam-
paigningwithpamphletsthatitemisetheplaces,datesand
numbersof the arrests.It is this kind of firsthandhistorical
documentation,which the film intercutswith footageof the
protestsand first-personaccounts,that makesWitchesand
Faggots,Dykesand Poofterssuchanimportantlivingarchive.
The film was partiallyfundedby a grant from the Australian
Film Commission,with additionalfinancialsupportfrom The
Gay Film Fund, a grassrootsSydneyorganisationthat was set
uptofundgayandlesbianprojectsin thelocalcommunity.^8
TheeventscapturedinWitchesand Faggots,Dykesand
Pooftersbecamea catalystfor significantqueeractivism;
they provideda springboardfor the initiationof gradualsocio-
politicalchange,frombroaderpublicawarenessofthemis-
treatmentofgayandlesbianAustralianstochangesin law
that reflecteda movementtowardsa more accepting,more
inclusiveculture.Therewasa dramaticincreasein public
exposureforthegayandlesbianactivistswhodemanded
respectand equality,and their high-profileprotestsresulted
in the Parliamentof NSW repealingitsSummaryOffences
Act 1970 , whichhadpermittedthearreststobecarriedout
in the first place,in 1979.^9 In this way, the film chroniclesa
hugelyimportantcivil-rightslandmarkin Australianhistory

• onethathascreateda legalprecedentandthus,likeall
  politicalmilestonesshapedbycollectiveactivism,ultimately
  transcendedthe specificpolitics and concerns of the imme-
  diatecommunityaffected.
  Comprisinginterviewsaswellasarchivalandrecorded
  footage,thedocumentarychannelstheanarchicspiritofpo-
  liticalprotest.Theprovocativetitleevidencesa reappropria-
  tionofhomophobiclanguage.Rightatthebeginningofthe
  film, one of the lesbian activists explains the rationale at play:

It wasreallycrucialto[...]usetheword‘dykes’andusethe
word ‘poofters’,becausewe had to take these termsof abuse
and sort of say, ‘Alright,I’m proudof beinga “dyke”.’And a
lot of the men took the term ‘poofter’and said, ‘I’m proudof
beinga “poofter”.’And so for a long time, in Melbourne in
particular, it was always the ‘dykes’ and ‘poofters’.

Byinterposingtheterms‘faggots’,‘dykes’and‘poofters’with
thehistoricalreference‘witches’,Duncanandherco-directors
marshalstheideaofpersecutionasanever-present– how-
everperverse– componentofAustralia’sculturaltapestry.
By invokingwitches,the film immediatelylocatesitself within
a robustlypoliticalframework:film as protest,film as mirror,
film as sociologicalartefact.In foregroundingthe intersec-
tionsbetweengenderinequalityandhomophobia,Witches
and Faggots, Dykes and Poofters points up the absurdity of

bothiterationsofpersecution.Thetitlealsofunctionsasan

ironicallusiontothekindofdangerousterrainthatcanswal-

lowuplogicin theserviceofpatriarchalcontrol.It hintsat the

hystericalfearmongeringthatcomesfromprejudiceandthe

desiretokeepminorityvoicessilent.ForDigby herself, the

title remains hugely important to this day:

I am alwaysstrugglingto preservethe nameof the film –

‘Witchesand Faggots,Dykesand Poofters’.Thereis a ten­

dencyto shortenthe film to ‘Witches’,whichbundlesit into

all the other films named‘Witches’.I feel this also avoids

writingorsayingthetitle[...]I feelit is importanttorefer

to it [in full] for its historical reference and its boldness.^10

TomarkthefortiethanniversaryoftheSydneyGayand

LesbianMardiGras,theNationalFilmandSoundArchive

ofAustralia(NFSA)restoredthisseminaldocumentary.The

transformationof the event from that first gatheringof 1000

people^11 toaninternationaltouristattractionandhighlight

oftheLGBTQIA+calendaris analogouswiththechanging

socioculturalclimatearoundgenderandsexualityissues

in Australia.The film is an enlighteningcatalogueof queer

activismthatcapturesthegrassrootsmobilisationofsomeof

Australia’sfirst gay and lesbianpoliticalgroups,the spirit of

protestin thenameoftoleranceandtheself-determination

thatanimatedthem,aswellasthedeep-rootedcontempt

forthequeercommunitythatthe78ersandtheirallieshad

to negotiate.While the interviewsinWitchesand Faggots,

Dykesand Pooftersarebothintimateanduncensored,the

subjectsthemselvesarenevernamed– symptomaticofthe

statusofLGBTQIA+Australiansatthetime.Thisis unsur-

prising,giventhetroublingfactthatThe SydneyMorning

Heraldpublishedthenames,addressesandoccupationsof

thosearrested;asa result,somelosthomesandjobs,and

felloutwithfamilymembers.^12 Withoutany legal protection

forgaysandlesbians,theriskofbeing‘outed’wasa tremen-

doussourceofanxietyformany.Thoseunabletoemerge

fromthe‘closet’wereworriedaboutlosingfriendships,jobs

andfamilialrelationshipsif theirsexualitywasexposed.

Duncan’sco-directorsweretheOnein SevenCollective,

a groupoflesbianfeminists.The‘onein seven’in thecol-

lective’snamesignalleditsaimtoeducateaudiencesabout

homosexuality:it invokedresearchclaimingthat one in ten

peoplewouldhavesomekindofhomosexualexperiencein

theirlifetimes,butthegroupfeltthattherateofincidence

wouldbeclosertoonein seven.^13 Indeed,the resultingdoc-

umentaryforegroundsthevoices,experiencesandoften

politicisedargumentsofa communitythatwas,atthetime,

highlymisrepresented.It recordsthe first-personresponses

ofgayandlesbiansubjectsin themidstofa turning point

in the epoch of queer history in Australia.

PRINCIPALCREDITS

Yearofrelease 1980

Length 45 mins

Producer DigbyDuncan

Directors DigbyDuncan

& One in Seven Collective

Fundingsupport Australian

Film Commission & The Gay

Film Fund

Camera WendyFreecloud,

Jan Kenny,Jeni Thornley,

David Perry

SoundMeganMcMurchy,

WendyFreecloud,Jennifer Neil

Editor MelanieRead

NarratorJude Kuring

MusicPen Short & Hens Teeth

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