Out of the closets, into the streets: histories of Melbourne gay liberation pictures the very beginning of the gay liberation movement in Melbourne, through photographs, archival material, film footage, objects and personal mementos.

As gay people found their voice in the early 1970s, artists, often at the very beginning of their careers, were there to capture meetings in lounge rooms, consciousness raising groups and street protests. The liberation movement meant ‘being there’, putting your body on the line.

“This embodied politics couldn’t stop in the streets: that is, the public arena as conventionally understood. ‘Being there’ politically also applied to households, classrooms, sexual relations, workplaces and the natural environment.”
– Raewyn Connell, ‘Ours is in colour: the new left of the 1960s’.

When: 18 January – 8 February 2015.
Where: City Library Gallery, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

• Exhibition essay by Professor Dennis Altman (pdf).