Noah Riseman - Pride in Defence: The Australian Military and LGBTI Service since 1945

PRIDE IN DEFENCE

PRIDE

IN DEFENCE

THE AUSTRALIAN MILITARY &
LGBTI SERVICE SINCE 1945

NOAH RISEMAN &
SHIRLEENE ROBINSON

MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS

An imprint of Melbourne University Publishing Limited

Level 1, 715 Swanston Street, Carlton,Victoria 3053, Australia

www.mup.com.au

First published 2020

Text Noah Riseman and Shirleene Robinson, 2020

Design and typography Melbourne University Publishing Limited, 2020

This book is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means or process whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publishers.

Every attempt has been made to locate the copyright holders for material quoted in this book. Any person or organisation that may have been overlooked or misattributed may contact the publisher.

Text design and typesetting by MK Typesetters

Cover design by Design by Committee

Cover image courtesy bigstockphoto.com

Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

9780522876741 (paperback)

9780522876758 (ebook)

Contents

Acknowledgements

Pride in Defence is the culmination of years of oral history interviews and archival research that has taken us to all corners of Australia and as far as the United States and Europe. The biggest debt of thanks we owe is to the 140 LGBTI service members who participated in oral history interviews. Some of them had previously talked about their military service many times over. For others, this was the first time that they were opening up about some very dark chapters from their pasts. To all of them, we say thank you for inviting us into your homes and workplaces and sharing a piece of your lives. Thanks also to the other interview participants, be they former politicians, families of ex-service members or former ADF commanders.

The bulk of this research was funded by Australian Research Council Discovery grant DP160103548, and Australian Catholic University provided seed funding for the first two years of the project. This project had the approval of the Departments of Defence and Veterans Affairs Human Research Ethics Committee (76214) and Australian Catholic University Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number 201422V). The then Vice Chief of the Defence Force, Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, gave command approval to interview currently serving members of the ADF.

We would not have been able to reach so many current and former members of the ADF without the steadfast support of DEFGLIS, and especially its former president, Vince Chong. Darcy Cartwright was also particularly helpful at networking with a range of currently serving Defence members, and Thomas Hoffman proved a supportive contact within the Defence People Group in the Department of Defence.

Several research assistants contributed to aspects of this project: thanks to Cheryl Ware for coding interviews, to Geraldine Fela for accessing archives in Canberra, Anisa Puri for managing interview data, and most especially to Julien Varrenti-Osmond for spending many weeks going through the LGBTI press and other records at the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives. Thanks also to the volunteer staff at the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives for facilitating access to records and for advice, most especially Nick Henderson, Gary Jaynes, Angela Bailey and Kathy Sport. Graham Willett, former president of the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives, was a partner investigator on the project, and we are grateful for his intellectual contribution and for conducting four of the oral history interviews. In accordance with participants consent, the majority of oral history interviews have been deposited in the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives.

We are indebted to colleagues from within our institutions and beyond. From Australian Catholic University, the history team regularly provided enthusiastic support and rigorous peer review. A special thank you to: Shurlee Swain, Melissa Bellanta, Lorinda Cramer, Hannah Forsyth, Meggie Hutchison, Ben Mountford, Nell Musgrove, Maggie Nolan, Jon Piccini and Ellen Warne. Thanks also to Noahs colleagues at other institutions whose intellectual contributions and friendship have made this book possible: Cath Bishop, Fiona Davis, Pat Grimshaw, Ara Keys, Tristan Moss, Patty OBrien, Yorick Smaal and Ben Wadham.

Shirleene wishes to thank her history friends who span institutions and groups (as well as states, territories and countries): Lisa Featherstone, Lisa Ford, Robert French, Rebecca Jennings, Andy Kaladelfos, Ann McGrath, Scott McKinnon, Clare Monagle, Robert Reynolds, Kay Saunders, Simon Sleight and Yorick Smaal (whose contribution to this field and friendship sees him thanked twice!). The Pride History Group Sydney provides a rich forum to discuss and produce LGBTI history. Shirleene also acknowledges the support of staff and friends at the National Library of Australia who work so tirelessly to collect and preserve Australias history. Mark Pivas ongoing and steadfast friendship is very much appreciated.

From Melbourne University Publishing, we thank publisher and CEO Nathan Hollier, senior editor Louise Stirling, cover designer Josh Durham and copy-editor Cathryn Game. Thanks also to series editor Joy Damousi, who enthusiastically endorsed this book and encouraged its publication.

Our final thanks go, as always, to the friends and family who have supported us both on the research and writing journey. Noah has befriended so many LGBTI Defence members, past and present, that his Facebook feed is awash with their news and exploits. Noah thanks his family in both Australia and the United States, but most especially his loving partner Michael, who has put up with his trips away, rants about Defence bureaucracy, and exciting stories about the people he met and experiences they shared.

Shirleene thanks the friends she made during the course of this research: Julie Hendy, Christina Dennis and Carole Popham. Getting to know you has been one of the greatest joys of this projectyour perspectives and generosity are much appreciated. She also thanks Alex Greenwich, whose commitment to equality is inspiring. She gratefully acknowledges family and friends who have supported her research with interest and patience: Kay Harrison and Sophie Partridge, Paris Lehn, Ky Menzies, Morgan Spearritt, Leah Newman, Helen Ross-Browne, Sarah Taylor, Julie Ustinoff and Emily Wilsonthank you. Sarah Midgley, as always, has been central to this project. Her love and kindness make all things possible.

The text of a few chapters has derived in part from the following previous publications:

Riseman, Noah. Activism and Australias ban on gay, lesbian and bisexual military service in the 1970s80s. Australian Feminist Studies 33, no. 95 (2018): 14763. Copyright Taylor & Francis. http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/08164649.2018.1498728

Hunting gays and lesbians in the Australian Defence Force, 19741992. Journal of the History of Sexuality 28, no. 3 (2019): 32556. Copyright 2019 University of Texas Press. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Just another start to the denigration of Anzac Day: Evolving commemorations of LGBTI military service. Australian Historical Studies 48, no. 1 (2017): 3551. Copyright Taylor & Francis. http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1031461X.2016.1251476