Since the colonisation of Australia in 1788 with the landing of the
First Fleet at
Sydney Cove and raising of the
Union Flag by
Arthur Phillip Sydney has been associated with male homosexuality. As part of the
British Empire,
Australian colonies inherited anti-homosexuality laws such as the
Buggery Act 1533. These provisions were maintained in criminal
sodomy laws passed by 19th century colonial parliaments, and subsequently by state parliaments after
Federation. Same-sex sexual activity between men was considered a
capital crime, resulting in the execution of people convicted of
sodomy until 1890. The laws also punished sodomy between heterosexual partners, but did not apply to lesbian relationships.
Oral sex as well as
masturbation, whether heterosexual or homosexual, public or private, were also criminal offences. Governor Phillip made it clear to the early convicts that
There are two crimes that would merit death – murder and sodomy. For either of these crimes I would wish to confine the criminal till an opportunity offered of delivering him as a prisoner to the natives of New Zealand, and let them eat him. By 1796, the first cases of homosexuality were being reported and the first trial for
sodomy, that of Francis Wilkinson took place. Over 30 years later, in 1828, Alexander Brown was the first person hanged for sodomy. Different jurisdictions gradually began to reduce the
death penalty for sodomy to
life imprisonment, with Victoria the last state to reduce the penalty in 1949. Community debate about decriminalising homosexual activity began in the 1960s, with the first lobby groups
Daughters of Bilitis, the
Homosexual Law Reform Society and the
Campaign Against Moral Persecution formed in 1969 and 1970.
Twentieth Century While Britain's influence on Australian political culture was still strong in the fifties there was no local appetite for a political response to the
Wolfenden Committee, which recommended the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in Britain in 1957. Ten years later there was little comment from any Australian public figure (state or federal) when Britain finally de-criminalized homosexuality in England and Wales. Some historians have attributed this to the association of homosexuality with the 'convict stain' in October 1973, former Prime Minister
John Gorton put forward a motion in the federal
House of Representatives that "in the opinion of this House homosexual acts between consenting adults in private should not be subject to the criminal law". All three major parties were given a
conscience vote, and the motion was passed by 64 votes to 40.
Gay Neighbourhoods During the
Vietnam War, the Darlinghurst Road precinct, known as
Kings Cross, became a popular destination for US military personnel on R&R – due chiefly to its proximity to a major naval facility. Partially as a result of this, the area gained a reputation as Australia's drugs and prostitution capital and also as one of the very early gay areas. Dozens of hotels constructed at the time ensured that "The Cross" remained a
gay ghetto well into the 1990s. In the years following the World War II, gay men started congregating in bars in
Oxford Street,
Darlinghurst and by 1969 gay bars such as Ivy's Birdcage and Capriccio's had opened. Queer life developed along the Oxford Street strip, which became known as The Golden Mile.
Rainbow crossing was installed in 2019, and was updated in 2024 to include the progress pride flag. The crossing sits adjacent to the southern end of Taylor Square, on the corner of Campbell and Bourke streets, on the border between
Surry Hills and
Darlinghurst. In February 2013 a temporary
rainbow crossing was installed between the southern and northern ends of
Taylor Square on Oxford st by City of Sydney Council as part of Mardi Gras's 35th anniversary celebrations. In April 2013 the crossing was removed as part of a condition with
Roads & Maritime Services when the rainbow crossing was built. In 2019 a new permanent rainbow crossing was installed at the southern end of Taylor Square and this was updated in 2024 to include the progress pride flag. == Demographics ==