Gay and Lesbian, Then and Now: Australian Stories from a Social Revolution

Over seventy years, Australia has quietly undergone one of the biggest social revolutions in its history. Once viewed as criminals, sinners or sick, lesbians and gay men are increasingly accepted as equal, and the majority of Australians support same-sex marriage. This rapid transformation in social attitudes has widened the space for lesbians and gays to live ordinary and visible lives in ways that were once barely imaginable. Through the intimate life stories of thirteen gay and lesbian Australians ranging in age from twenty to eighty, Gay and Lesbian, Then and Now reveals the remarkable shifts from one generation to the next. From the underground beats of 1950s Brisbane and illicit relationships in the armed services, to Grindr, foster parenting and weddings in the twenty-first century, Robert Reynolds and Shirleene Robinson trace the intimate personal impact of this quiet revolution in social attitudes. Gay and Lesbian, Then and Now reveals the legacies of homophobia, the personal struggles and triumphs involved in coming out, the inconsistent state of social progress, and the many different ways of being gay or lesbian in Australia - then and now.