Did you ever hear of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea?
In 2004 one of the most creative protests against Australia’s ban on same-gender marriage was launched.
A tiny uninhabited island in the Coral Sea was proclaimed The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea. Activist Dale Parker Anderson was proclaimed the Emperor of the protest nation.
The protesters then declared war on Australia because of the recent ban on same-gender marriage introduced by the Howard government. They chose Handel’s Zadok the Priest as their national anthem, and released some colorful postage stamps. The nation claimed to be 100% homosexual and their main camp was named Heaven after the famous queer nightclub in London.
They even set up a website, sadly now defunct, to tell the world about their new kingdom.
….and then everyone kind of forgotten about it for many years, until Liberal Senator Eric Abetz brought it up during a Senate Estimates hearing in 2017.
As Australia’s slow journey towards achieving marriage equality crawled along, Senator Abetz, who was an outspoken voice against allowing same-gender marriage, spent some time in parliament grilling different government department’s over displays of the Pride flag.
The Tasmanian senator quizzed officials from the Department of Finance about the protocols for flying a rainbow flag within a government building.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Senator Abetz said he had heard reports of the rainbow flag, which is a symbol of the gay and lesbian community, being displayed within the foyer of the Department of Finance.
Senator Abetz said because some employees of the Department of Finance may be opposed to marriage equality it was only proper that an equal opportunity be given to a group arguing for the marriage laws to remain in their current state.
“To cut to the chase, there was the rainbow flag on display in the lobby which, believe it or not, some people see as an activist flag for a particular cause in relation to an issue of whether or not we should change the legislation on marriage and some people of course support that cause, others don’t.
“If that is allowed, then one imagines that the Marriage Alliance banner should be flown equally,” Senator Abetz said, demanding to know who had permitted the rainbow flag to be flown within the Finance department.
“If you allow one side of the debate, then you need to allow the other side and that is why I sought to determine upfront who is responsible for making these determinations.” the senator said.
The Senator then went on to describe the flag as the symbol of a “hostile nation”. Which, because everyone had completely forgotten about the foundation of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Choral Sea thirteen years earlier, provided one of the more memorable moments of a Senate Estimates hearings.
Senator Abetz told Liberal colleague Senator Mathias Cormann that the island nation was at war with Australia, suggesting it was similar to the Western Australia separatist declaration of Hutt River Province.
“This particular flag, you will realise, is the flag of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands, that declared war on Australia and you Senator Cormann would understand they did the same as Prince Leonard of Hutt River Province and now this is their official flag,” Senator Abetz said.
“Of course, it is the flag of a hostile nation if we are to believe them, having declared war on Australia. I dare say that wasn’t the reason it was flown…” the Senator added.
Lili Elbe, whose story was told in the film ‘The Danish Girl’, died in 1931
Lili Ilse Elvenes, better known as Lili Elbe, was a Danish painter and one of the earliest recipients of gender reassignment surgery.
Born in Vejle, Denmark in 1882 she worked as a painter and illustrator. While studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts she married another arts student, Gerda Cottlieb. The couple travelled through Italy and France before settling in Paris in 1912. During this time Lili began to live more openly as a woman, often posing as her wife’s sister-in-law.
In 1930 she travelled to Germany to undergo a series of gender reassignment surgeries, which were to be carried out over a two-year period. At the time such surgeries were very experimental.
Her case became a sensation in the Danish and German newspapers. In Denmark the couple’s marriage was annulled, and Lili was able to gain a passport under her new name. She returned to Dresden and began a relationship with a French Art Dealer.
In 1931 she had her fourth surgery which saw doctors attempt to transplant a uterus to her body and create a vaginal canal. Lili Elbe became the second transgender woman to have a vaginoplasty.
Three months after he surgery her body rejected the transplant, and she was required to have additional surgery. She suffered from infection which led to her death from cardiac arrest on 13th September 1931 at the age of 48.
Her life story was shared in the novel The Danish Girl which was written by author David Ebershoff. It was adapted into a film in 2015 starring Eddie Redmayne. The film was criticised for using a cis-gendered actor to play a transgender woman, and in 2021 Redmayne said he regretted taking on the role.
The TV series ‘Soap’ made its debut
In 1977 the US comedy series Soap aired fore the first time. Among its cast was an unknown Billy Chrystal who played a a character named Jodie Dallas.
Jodie Dallas was one of the first prominent and sympathetic portrayals of a gay man on US television. The show ran for four seasons but over time Crystal’s character appeared to become less gay. Religious organisations complained about the character being so prominent in the program.
Documentary ‘The Celluloid Closet’ premieres
On this day in 1995 the documentary The Celluloid Closet had its first screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It’s based on the book of the same name by Vito Russo that came out in 1981. Russo documented how Hollywood had portrayed LGBTIQA+ people through the decades.
Russo spent years raising the funding to turn his book into a film, and sadly passed away in 1990. After his death filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman got the project moving. Comedian and actor Lily Tomlin was central to getting the film made, she launched a direct mail campaign to raise funds and appeared at a comedy fundraiser to help get the project to the screen.
The documentary references a huge range of films and is a wonderful deep dive into queer portrayals on screen.
In 2001 Jerry Falwell blamed feminists, gay and lesbians for the 9-11 attacks
Just days after close to 3,000 were killed in the attacks of September 11th, evangelical Christian broadcaster the Reverend Jerry Falwell blamed feminists, gays and lesbians for the terrorist incident.
