A Dunedin-based researcher is currently finding out what life was like for homosexual kiwi men in years past. Dr Chris Brickell, a senior lecturer in Gender Studies at Otago University, is writing an illustrated history of male homosexuality in New Zealand. His research explores men's lives and experiences from the early nineteenth century until the end of the 1970s. “So far, the project has turned up a diverse cast of characters,” reveals Brickell. “Labourers and literary figures, actors and stewards, clerks and clergymen. From Dunedin's muddy streets and Oamaru's garden shrubbery during the 1860s and '70s, to the boarding houses of the Waikato and the bars of inner-city Auckland some hundred or so years later, the stories of New Zealand's gay past are vibrant, complex and sometimes surprising. "This book will tell those stories as it examines the pre-law reform world." Brickell says his book won't be just a large slab of text, though. "I've found a large number of good photographs, as many as 100 overall, but I'd like to hear from anyone who might be willing to loan me any more for copying and possible inclusion. "Perhaps surprisingly, the period proving the most difficult is the 1970s. This is partly because so many images remain in private collections rather than public archives. Very few photographs of the gay clubs and bars that proliferated during that decade have come to light, and I'd love to be able to include some in the book. I'd be very interested in any gay-related photos or written material from earlier years, too: letters and stories, for instance; images of lovers, friends and drag performers." Brickell promises to take good care of anything he's entrusted with, and to consult items' owners fully before publication. The researcher can be contacted by email at chris.brickell@otago.ac.nz, by phone on 03-479-8184, or writing c/- Gender Studies, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin. More information on the research can also be found at the website link below. Ref: GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Monday, 27th November 2006 - 12:00pm