climatebeyondthe frame:the decisionto speakup and con-
tributeto the dialoguewas not one taken lightly.
When one activisttakes centrestage and voices her view,
the room erupts with approval:
If you believethat we oughtto ask policepermission,why the
fuckgoanddemonstrateaboutpeoplewhowerearrestedfor
illegalmarching?What’sthepointofit?If we’regoingtocrawl
to the coppersand say, ‘Pleasegive us our rights,baby,’and
we’regonnastick by what the coppersallow us, then why
the fuck demonstrate?Peoplewho were pickedup for illegal
marchingwere legitimatelyarrested.If you believethat crap,
if youthinkthepoliceshouldhavetherighttopickyouoffthe
streets because you haven’t obeyed their rules, then piss off!
Andwhenthedecisiontomarchin solidaritywiththeirar-
restedalliesgoesahead,thereis stirringfootageof 3000
peoplewalkingwithbannersbearingmessageslike‘Dropthe
Charges!’Thesongthataccompaniestheimagesfeatures
a femalevoice singingthe lyrics, ‘I’m gonnakeep on singing
andmarchingtillyouletmebe.I don’t want to start no hassle
butI gottabegayandfree.’
Learning our history, learning our selves
ThescenescontainedwithinWitchesand Faggots,Dykesand
Pooftersarea vitalrecordofAustralianqueerhistory,aswell
asthehistoryofactivismandgrassrootsself-organisation
in supportof social change.While there has been an aston-
ishingamountofrelativelyrapidchangein Australia,with
LGBTQIA+residentsnowlivingin a farmoreinclusiveclimate
ofacceptance,thereis stilla longwaytotravelif equality
is tobetrulyattained.Despitemilestoneslikesame-sex
marriagebeinglegalisedaswellasgrowingawarenessof
andsupportfortransgenderpeople,thereis stilla needfor
activismthatbuildsonthepioneeringworkofthe78ersand
theirallies.TheAustralianeducationsector,withparticular
referencetoprimaryandsecondaryschools,wasrecognised
by the filmmakersas an essentialspacefor change.In fact,
Duncanconcedesthattheteam’s‘mostambitioushope
was that [the film] wouldbe shownin schools.That has not
happenedtodatebutit has reached universities and other
tertiaryinstitutions.’^33
TheissueofLGBTQIA+teachersin religiousschoolsrisk-
ing dismissalfor disclosingtheir sexualityremainsan ongoing
concern;^34 thismirrorstheexperienceoftheindependent-
schoolteacherfeaturedin the film. The resonanttheme
ofdiscriminationis concerningin a societythatoutwardly
claimsto be sociallyprogressive.The fact that the film has
notreachedsecondaryschoolstodaychimeswiththehighly
politiciseddebatesaroundsexandsexualityeducationin
Australianschools.ProgramslikeSafeSchools,forexample,
weretakenupbyextreme-rightgroupsandusedin anti-
same-sex-marriagescaretactics.^35 Clearly,formanycon-
servativeandreligiousstakeholders,teachingstudentsabout
non-heteronormativeformsofsexualityshouldremainoffthe
agenda– andthisrisksLGBTQIA+studentsfeelingisolated,
rejectedorevenaberrant.Theissuesalsomanifestin more
obliqueways. A recentresearchpaper by Kelli McGrawand
LisavanLeentfromtheQueenslandUniversityofTechnology
foundthatseniorEnglishtextsareoverwhelminglyheteronor-
mative.TheresearcherscontendthatseniorEnglishstaff
should work to redress this by ‘listing texts that represent
diversesexualidentitiesandissuesofsexualdifferenceand
diversity,andtextsthatareequitably accessible to a wider
rangeofstudentsin English’.^36
And these exclusionaryapproachesare not confinedto
classrooms.In NSW alone,at least thirteendefendantsused
the‘gaypanic’defencetoarguesuccessfullyfora lesser
chargeofmanslaughterbetween 1993 and1995.Thelegal
argumenthingesontheclaimthata victimcan‘provoke’his
attackerthroughunwantedhomosexualadvances– provo-
cationbeing definedas ‘a suddenand temporaryloss of
controlat the point when the homicide[takes]place’.^37 The
defencehas since been bannedin NSW and other states,
anditslastremainingstrongholdin thecountry– South
Australia– is set to dissolve its legal status by the end of
the year.^38
In 2016, the NSW PoliceForce formallyapologised
totheLGBTQIA+communityfortheirtreatmentin 1978.
Superintendent Tony Crandell stated that the police were[s]orryfor the way that the MardiGras was policedon the
first occasionin 1978.For that, we apologise,and we acknow
ledgethepainandhurtthatpoliceactionscausedat thatevent
in 1978.Our relationshipstoday,I wouldsay, are positiveand
progressive. That was certainly not the case in 1978.^39With these conciliatoryovertures,it might be temptingto as-
sumethatthe78ers’courageousactivismandtheworkof
grassrootsfilmmakerslike Duncanand the One in Seven
Collectivehavecomefullcircle.Thattheagentsofsocialorder
arenowappropriatelyalignedwiththeLGBTQIA+community.
ThattheeventsdepictedinWitchesand Faggots,Dykesand
Poofterscanbehappilyconsignedtoqueerhistory.Yetthe
film ends abruptly,withoutwarning;it is almostas if its brief
forty-fiveminuteshave been cut short prematurely.While this
is most likely due to financialconstraints,it createsthe sug-
gestionthattheactivist’svoicehasexceededitspermitted
runningtime.Thisis analarmingnotionthatremindstheaudi-
ence– queerandstraight– oftheneedtokeepspeakingup,
tokeepdefending,tokeepincludingandtokeeplistening.For
whilethelegacyofthe78erscontinuestodayin termsofrights
gainedandincreasedinclusionforLGBTQIA+Australians,the
activismthatthey delivered is a foundation that must continue
to be built on.This article has been refereed.GabrielleO’Brienis a Melbourne-basedfreelancefilm writer.
The AustralianFilm CriticsAssociationrecentlyconferredher
the Ivan Hutchinson Award for best long-form film criticism. mhttp://www.metromagazine.com.au | © ATOM | Metro Magazine 201• 115