Never A Crime

This project focuses on building Pride in our LGBTIQ identities. It involves workshops where Pride is discussed and Pride masks are made. The first workshops focused on gay and bisexual men, to affirm homosexuality as an equal way of being and to raise awareness of the Expungement Scheme. Photographs of men and their masks were exhibited for Midsumma in 2018 (see below) and we received requests to expand the project to include all LGBTIQ community members. We also received requests for a workshop that paid tribute to the survivors of the Tasty night club raid.

We are grateful to Midsumma Festival for supporting the Exhibition and to the City of Melbourne who provided a Community Grant to support four workshops in 2018.

The Apology – healing stigma

The project began with conversations about the Expungement Scheme in Victoria. The Scheme offers people the opportunity to have historical convictions for consensual homosexual sex overturned. We heard that men who had been through Expungement reported it was cathartic – but few men have participated. In conversations about why this was the case were we told this:

the historic oppression of gay and bisexual men by law and society sought to create a sense of shame around homosexuality. In 1981 this oppression shifted in Victoria when legislative reforms saw consensual homosexual sex decriminalized; and then again in 2015 when the State Government implemented a scheme to expunge historical convictions for homosexual sex. While legislative reform is essential there is also a need to heal the stigma, hurt, shame and losses these laws created.

A process of healing began in 2016, when Premier Daniel Andrews made an apology in State Parliament for past injustices (read the apology here). While these reforms are significant there is still a sense of stigma and shame around LGBTIQ identities. The Never a Crime project aims to address that stigma by building Pride.

Pride stories

These portraits of LGBTIQ people their Pride masks were taken by Lisa White, The Social Photographer. You can also click on the link here to read the stories workshop participants shared.

: Mohsin Ali: My mask shows my pride in my ethnicity, my sexuality, what I stand for and what I believe.

: Ron Van Houwelingen

: James Conlan: My mask, entitled Breaking Out, symbolises the gay struggle. The inner yellow is the egg yolk, the shells represent the barriers we face, which is slowly splitting and breaking apart. The outward eyes show that, despite out challenges, we are looking outwards and forwards.

: My mask tells a story of a much younger me learning early to hide full expression behind an impervious barrier in a childhood landscape that was blue and green and straw yellow. It’s a landscape that hasn’t left me though the barrier has been mostly eroded.

: Max Primmer: The mask I made today encompasses me as a gay man, having come out at the age of 15 I have seen a lot of changes – some good and some not. But we are family. We are loved. Hugs to the World.

: Michael Dalton:My mirror mask: being able to look at yourself in the mirror and like what you see, warts and all as they say. It’s an ongoing process.

: Fernando Estrada: Through my mask I wanted to provide a glimpse of who I am. A man proud and about of being a gay man.

: Jack Dow: I was born with a disability, so I questioned my validity at a very early age. I had parents that instilled a strong sense of self, that I could do whatever I wanted to do and be whoever I wanted to be. A few years later when I realised I was gay, I took it in my stride as I’d questioned myself once before and didn’t need to do it again. I used a strong blue against the white as I associate it with the disabled parking signs. I’ve also added my finger prints as we are all unique

: Antony McManus and Ron Van Houwelingen

: Paul Marshall

: Antony McManus: The journey to YES! Rally after rally, year after year, we persevered knowing that marriage equality would be realised. I thought it would happen sooner, but it was such an amazing journey. And now I am married to the man I love

: Peter Hudson:My mask is black and white – signifying the ambivalence I feel towards my gay self. The tri coloured tears on the white surface are the blood, sweat and tears of struggling with life and relationships of a gay man. The tears are necessary and worthwhile and are blended in together. The ambivalence I mentioned is both my own feelings and the feelings of people close to me who struggle with acceptance and understanding of other world views

: James Heggie

: Rod White

: Matthew Wade: Growing up in country Victoria, I often felt I couldn’t express my true self. I couldn’t express my love of singing Mariah Carey ballads at the top of my lungs. I couldn’t express my affinity for late night re-runs of the trashy gay soap Dante’s Cove. And, most importantly, I couldn’t express my same-sex attraction (despite harbouring an intense crush on Will Smith circa Fresh Prince of Bel Air). This mask represents the person I wanted to see free in my country town.

: David Morrison: My mask has a group of soldiers ready to obey orders but as individuals they have minds of their own. Some will be gay and have infatuations of love and desire for each other. They would love to embrace in the bushes but they know being gay is forbidden and such feelings are supressed. The letters FRS+P represent my fears of my sexual feelings (F). (R) represents the risks I have taken in the process. (S) represents the guilt and shame I’ve experienced due to my religious teachings and the attitudes towards homosexuality. (P) represents the pride I now feel having broken down these barriers. I’ve shown a smiling mouth.

: Jonathon

: Ayman Barbaresco: My mask is about breaking down the barriers and showing your brave self. The copper represents strength and courage. It resembles being exposed and soft to show the real person that you are.

Tribute to Tasty Raid Survivors

We also received requests for a workshop that paid tribute to the survivors of the Tasty night club raid. Police have apologised for the raid. A workshop was facilitated as part of the Community Grant provided by the City of Melbourne. Workshop participants included Ron, a gay man who was at Tasty when it was raided. You can read Ron’s story here and the messages from other workshop participants are shared below.

Ron: My mask recognises the magical and fabulous patrons that frequented the Tasty Nightclub back in the mid 90’s. I chose the colour silver to reflect the mirror balls and the blinding colour of the costumes and the general mood that a night at Tasty felt like. It was a place for the ‘queerest of the queers’ – the feeling (before the raid) was one of euphoria, of celebration.

Other participants who attended the Tasty workshop shared the following masks as messages of support to the survivors of the Tasty Raid.

Messages to men who were unjustly convicted

Workshop participants and those attending the Exhibition were invited to send a message of support to men who were unjustly convicted. The responses are heart warming and we display them here in the hope that they will help to send a message of support.

Workshop process

The Pride workshops are a lot of fun – and a powerful process. Participants tell us that working on their mask and reflecting on Pride is quite uplifting and is an important process. Check out some of our workshop photos by Lisa White below.

David Morrison: I like being gay

In one of our workshops, 86 year old David Morrison shared his historical experiences of homophobia and pride and concludes: I am happy now – I like being gay. In this short film David describes the mask he made.

Midsumma Exhibition

We were proud to partner with Midsumma Festival and the Abbotsford Convent Gallery in January 2017, to present an exhibition of photographs of men and their masks by Lisa White, The Social Photographer. View details of the exhibition here.

As part of the launch exhibition we invited men who participated in the Pride Workshops to reflect on the project, the exhibition, their masks and Pride. Their responses are very touching and can be viewed in the YouTube video below.

The apology 2015

In May 2015 Premier Daniel Andrews issued a formal apology in State Parliament to gay men for past injustices – making Victoria the first state to apologise. You can view the apology below – courtesy of ABC News.

Below are a series of photos taken from the apology in State Parliament, which was open to the general public, and an extract from the apology.

The Expungement Scheme

In September 2015 a new scheme was implemented in Victoria to expunge historical convictions for homosexual activity that would not be a criminal offence today. Under the scheme, an individual (or the appropriate representative of a deceased person) can make a confidential application to the Secretary of the Department of Justice and Regulation to have their conviction or finding of guilt for an historical homosexual offence expunged. This application can be made free of charge. For more information about the Scheme go to the Department of Justice and Regulations webpage.

Human Rights Law Centre – here to help

Lee, Jamie and Anna from the Human Rights Law Centre presenting at a conference about their work on the Expungement Scheme.

The Human Rights Law Centre is a wonderful organisation that has set up an Expungement Legal Service to help people who work through the process of Expungement. If you have or know someone who has a historic finding of guilt or conviction for homosexual activity, the Expungement Legal Service can help: advise you on the expungement scheme (including if you are eligible to apply); assist you to prepare your application and relevant paperwork; and support you through the expungement process.

The Expungement Legal Service provides free and confidential legal help to anyone affected by these laws in any state or territory in Australia. The team is staffed by LGBTIQ identifying lawyers and includes volunteer lawyer Jamie Gardiner who has personal experience of the climate and police attitudes before the old laws were repealed. For more information go to the HRLC webpage on Expungement by clicking here.

Support services

There are a number of wonderful support services out there to help if you need someone to talk to:

Switchboard Victoria provides peer based support for LGBTIQ people and their friends, family and allies. Switchboard is a Victorian partner in the national telephone and web counselling, information and referral service (QLife) and are available 3pm – 12am every day on 1800 184 527 or web: http://www.switchboard.org.au/
VAC counselling service: the first session is free and from then on fees are based on a scale depending on your income. Open Monday to Thursday 9am – 8pm. Friday 9am – 4pm. Phone (03) 9865 6700 or web: http://vac.org.au/lgbti-health/counselling
QLife are available from 5:30pm – 10:30pm and can be contacted on 1800 184 527 or web: https://qlife.org.au/
beyondblue provides a free phone service 24 hours a day on 1300 22 4636 or web: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
Lifeline is a free phone service available 24 hours a day on 13 11 14 or web: https://www.lifeline.org.au/

More information

If you would like more information about this project please contact the project coordinator Dr Catherine Barrett by hone: 0429 582 237 or email at: director@celebrateageing.com

A Barrett-White collaboration

This project was bought to you by Catherine Barrett and Lisa White. Catherine and Lisa are passionate about engaging communities in real change for social justice – and are grateful to the following organisations and individuals:

Ro Allen, Gender and Sexuality Commissioner: project patron
Jamie Gardiner: for his advice and encouragement
Human Rights Law Centre: for supporting the project
Switchboard Victoria: for supporting the project
Vintage Men Inc: for supporting the project
Victorian AIDS Council: for supporting the project
Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives: for their display and the project Exhibition
Midsumma Festival: for partnering in a 2018 project Exhibition
Abbotsford Convent: for providing a venue for the 2018 project Exhibition
City of Melbourne: for providing a community grant for four workshops in 2018

In the Media

We are grateful to those working in the Media who have shared information about the project – your stories help us to challenge the shame around homosexuality and bisexuality.

Saturday Magazine (6th Jan 2018) with Jamie Gardiner: link

Ayman Barbaresco – Never A Crime

To me, pride is when you can truly be yourself. It means to be the real person that you are and not worry about what other people think. It is about letting your guard down and being happy in your own skin. I have had a very mixed life as a gay man. I was accepted by...

Andrew Rogers – Never a Crime

Pride to me means quiet strength in breathing the same amount of airspace as those around me, to paraphrase a writer whose name escapes me. Pride is recognising the courage with which we confidently move through the world as equal but not the same participants. My...

Michael Dalton – Never a Crime

Pride means I get to be me. I get to live my life as a proud, out gay man. When I was younger I remember hearing the word “poof” like so many others around me. It prevented me from coming out when I was really young (15 or 16). But it didn’t take me much...

Antony McManus – Never a Crime

Pride is living without fear. I can take pride knowing that I get involved when I see injustices within our community. I have been very lucky. I have surrounded myself with supportive, loving people.

Peter Hudson – Never A Crime

Pride means confidence, self-expression, community, acceptance, solidarity, camaraderie, joy of life, living, amazing creativity, growing graciousness and wisdom My message to men who were unjustly convicted is claim your emancipation! Take back what is rightfully...