Activism and Australia's Ban on Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Military Service in the 1970s–80s

ABSTRACT

The 1970s witnessed the beginning of gay and lesbian visibility and activism in Australia. Law reform associations and liberation organisations emerged across the major cities, pushing numerous equality causes ranging from the rights of lesbian mothers to, most prominently, campaigns to decriminalise homosexual acts. One theme conspicuously low-key amidst this activism was the question of gay, lesbian and bisexual service in Australia's military. Longstanding regulations banned gays, lesbians and bisexuals from serving, and those who were caught were normally discharged. The services’ respective police and intelligence services also intermittently embarked on ‘witch-hunts’—practices which became even more pronounced in the 1980s. Though CAMP Inc sporadically addressed the ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual military service, discharged servicemen and women rarely took up the cause. This is in stark contrast to the United States, where there were numerous high-profile discharges, public campaigns and legal challenges to discrimination against gay and lesbian service personnel. This article examines the low-key status of military reform in the 1970s–80s, questioning why in Australia, for most discharged servicemen and women, the personal did not become political.

Acknowledgements

The author thanks all the interview participants for sharing their time and life stories for this project, as well as colleague Shirleene Robinson who conducted one of the interviews referenced in this article. Thanks also to Michelle Arrow for her advice and direction about CAMP's submission to the Royal Commission on Human Relationships. Ethical clearance for this project was provided by the Departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs Human Research Ethics Committee, protocol number 762-14, and the researchers have adhered to all approved protocols. That approval has also been registered with the Australian Catholic University Human Research Ethics Committee as protocol 2014 22V.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Noah Riseman is an Associate Professor of History at Australian Catholic University, where he specialises in histories of Indigenous people, gender and sexuality. His books include Defending Country: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Military Service since 1945 (with Richard Trembath, UQP 2016) and Serving in Silence? Australian LGBT Servicemen and Women (with Shirleene Robinson and Graham Willett, NewSouth 2018). This article is part of an ARC Discovery project examining the history of LGBTI participation in the Australian military since the end of the Second World War.

ORCID

Noah Riseman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4723-431X

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Australian Research Council: [Grant Number DP160103548].