Queering between the lines

Queer history is full of hard-fought battles - from the decriminalisation of homosexuality to the fight for AIDS/HIV recognition and marriage equality. You’d think by now, the fighting would be over… right? But instead we're seeing backwards steps - especially for the trans community. Katie Green, CEO of the Inner City Legal Centre, and Carlie, from Parents for Trans Youth Equity, talk about the fight for trans rights today.

If you watch women’s sport - in particular football/soccer - you might think that sport is super gay. Sam Lewis, president of the Flying Bats Sydney football club, talks about how progressive women’s football has become these days. But as Ian Roberts explains, even though he came out in the 90s, men's sport continues to be filled with homophobia and fear.

Every queer person in the world can remember that time when they entered their first queer space - whether it be a cafe, a book shop, a club, a sauna, a footy field - and suddenly felt that weight lift off their shoulders. Their body relaxed. They stopped scanning the room cautiously. The true version of themselves suddenly had free reign. Straight people take that space for granted, but for the queer community, it’s always been a battle for space to call their own.

Having sex as a queer, lesbian, gay, or bisexual person might be considered an act of protest - all the way back to when it could land you in jail. Glenn, co-owner of Sauna X by 357, takes us on a tour of his gay sauna and explains the vital role these spaces fill in the gay community. Tiger, one of the Wicked Women founders, tells us about their fight to express themselves authentically among the 'desexualised' lesbian movement of the 1980s. A warning, this episode is going to get a bit sexy, with the kind of language and descriptions that might cause your grandma to raise her eyebrow.

Families are complex, complicated, and often fraught relationships. For the LGBTQI+ community, being yourself often meant being thrown out of your biological family. But for as long as being queer has meant possibly losing one family, it also meant building another family, filled with people who love you for who you are. Xander talks about forming his House of Silky family and how ballroom culture has provided mother and father roles. And Kendal Walton, president of Dykes on Bikes, tells us how the motorcycle group has long cared for each other and the rest of the queer community.

The queer community has always had to look after each other, fight to be recognised, and battle to be treated as human beings. Sister Clare Nolan, Julie Bates and Ken Davis talk about a time when the LGBTQIA+ community had to band together as the deadly virus known as HIV/Aids rampaged through their friends and family. Moving to the present, Renee Dixon talks about the fight to help and protect queer refugees coming to Australia for a safer life.

How far back in time can you find queer stories? Jacobin Bosman, PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, takes us through some of the early gay and lesbian stories from colonial Australia. While Ben Graetz and Jedda Ruby Riley discuss the impacts of colonisation on queer First Nations people and the erasure of their stories in Australia.

Everyone knows queers love to party. But the dance floor isn’t just a place to dance and make out with friends – it’s where you go to be with your community and connect with your queer ancestors. DJ Gemma and Ken Davis talk about the battles they fought to create the dance floors we get to dance on today.

In Queer Renegades, Farz Edraki celebrates the trailblazers and rebels who helped shape Australia’s queer history. From quiet acts of defiance to loud, glittering rebellion, each episode celebrates a piece of Australia's queer history.