This year OUTinPerth is marking its 20th birthday. Launched as a free street press magazine in July 2002, the publication remained in print until 2019 when it transformed to a fully digital model.
In this series of posts we look back at individual issues of the magazine and see what was happening in our community in years gone by.
In November 2007 the Pride Festival had just finished and this issue has a stack of photos from the parade and parties. Over the years the festival has slowly moved from late October to late November. The parade had been held in raining weather, hence the umbrella and raindrops design on the cover.
While it may have bucketed down with rain it didn’t dampen enthusiasm with 47 floats taking part in the event. Afterwards there were parties at Connections and the Court, but the official after-party was held at Belmont Racecourse with 780 people buying tickets to see DJ Lisa Loud and drag performer Courtney Act.
The Patrons of Pride in 2007 were Sam and Kelly Pilgrim-Byrne who had just welcomed their child Alex into the world.
The advertisement on the front cover announces that the major renovations at The Court are almost complete and the front bar and dance floor have now re-opened. Inside was news that the venue had applied for extended trading hours, requesting permission to operate until 3am.
In the news Lisa Scaffidi had just been elected Lord Mayor of Perth, voicing her support for diversity and the LGBTIQA+ community. Former Lord Mayor Peter Natrass had been a staunch opponent of events like the Pride parade.
Labor MP Louise Pratt had just resigned from the state parliament in order to run for a spot in the federal senate. The state election was just a few weeks away which would see the Carpenter government lose to the Liberals lead by Colin Barnett.
WA was marking five years since the 2002 Gay and Lesbian Law Reforms, with Attorney General Jim McGinty joining an event at The Court alongside Louise Pratt, and Greens MP Giz Watson.
It was also noted that all four of Western Australia’s public universities had now introduced Ally programs to support LGBTIQA+ students. UWA had lead the way introducing their program in 2006, followed by Curtin, Murdoch and Edith Cowan.
Terry Larder interviewed Anthony Callea, while Megan Smith interviewed Clare Bowditch and the Rogue Traders. In the music reviews Annie Lennox new album Songs of Mass Destruction was described as being “overfilled with despair”, but albums from Rogue Traders and Delta Goodrem were viewed more favorably. There was also an album from newcomer Kate Miller-Heike – who was described as having the potential for a significant career.
Drag star Val Uptuous featured in regular column Tea With Miss Katherine. She would later re-brand as Val Nourished after some serious dieting.
Love diving into history, check out our regular On This Gay Day series, or read the previous edition of Dive Into The Archive.
OIP Staff
This article highlights news and photographs from a past issue of OUTinPerth. Since 2007 people will have passed away, friendships will have ended, relationships will have run their course, and some of us may now present now as a different gender. If any images are causing concern please contact us. If you regret you old haircut, we can’t help you.
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