Forty years later, memories flooded back to me today of the trepidation I felt as I stepped into the office of Jim Brigginshaw, the Editor of Lismore’s daily newspaper, “The Northern Star,” Accompanied by three fellow students, who are still good friends, we interviewed him for a school project about “the media” in about 1982. That’s me on the canera.
This teenage anxiety stemmed from the strong editorial stance he and the newspaper took against homosexuality. This unfolded during the months preceding the decriminalization of homosexuality in NSW, a period when men could face imprisonment for up to 14 years. At that time, I was volunteering at the local community radio station, which hosted the weekly show “Gaywaves,” co-hosted by Vera Bourne, the mother of a school mate, and Mike Bray, co-owner of the local gay restaurant, “Double Dutch”.
My memories of the strength of the newspaper editorials and articles had almost completely faded over the decades until today visiting an exhibition spotlighting the history of “Tropical Fruits,” the nationally renowned LGBTQIA+ group based in Lismore.
It was wonderful to chat with the exhibition’s curator about my memories of life in Lismore as a teenage gay boy. Despite a notable presence of gays and lesbians in my school year, I was the only one who openly identified as such during that period.
The exhibition, though marred by the 2022 catastrophic flood that impacted the organizational headquarters and resulted in the loss of much physical history, serves as a testament to the group. Despite the sometimes grim subject matter, there are some wonderful memories of strength, resilience, and a growing community
A decade after the anti-homosexual campaign in Lismore, I found myself in another country town, Wagga Wagga, where the local newspaper, “The Daily Advertiser,” echoed a similar sentiment. The editor at the time, Michael McCormack, later ascended to the position of Deputy Prime Minister as the leader of the National Party, and recently expressing regret for the newspaper’s divisive campaign at the time.
Even though “The Northern Star” is now owned by News Corporation which generally has an anti-progressive editorial stance, they no longer run anti-gay editorials, and celebrate the annual influx of people for “Tropical Fruits”.
Meanwhile…
There is another gay-themed exhibition in Lismore, just around the corner in Magellan Street, focussing on the works of a Melbourne duo called The Huxleys.
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