by Timothy Roberts.

As a child, I always enjoyed collecting things – firstly matchbox cars, then coins, business cards, stamps, and a host of other trifles. This hoarding tendency – a somewhat non-discriminatory way of bringing items together, allowed me, as a young person with very little independent ownership over things, to covet some possessions of my own, but at the same time it also encouraged me to look for things that may stand out for whatever reason to add to my collection.

In my late teens and early twenties, my collecting habits began to concentrate on art, ceramics and decorative arts. To learn more about the items I was collecting, I began to purchase books – often from second hand stores – to satisfy my curiosity and expand my knowledge. As my collecting interests hones, this accompanying library organically morphed into a collection of predominately Australian art resources, though confections on jewellery and fashion often entered the shelves simply because of their sumptuous photography and satisfyingly heavy paper stock. Though rarer books entered that collection from time to time - a slightly worn copy of Kenneth Macqueen’s Adventures in Watercolour, an original edition of Ian Fairweather’s The Drunken Buddha, and a well-read copy of Thomas Woolner’s Life in Letters – every publication that accumulated on my shelves was also fit for use as a resource for my professional research into Australian art history.

In 2010, art reference materials of LGBT interest began to enter my collection. Firstly the National Library of Australia’s 4-volume transcription of Donald Friend’s diaries, and a modest collection of catalogues by Luke Roberts soon followed. These were connected to my research at the time, and as such the collection did not benefit from any further exploration. In 2014, I received a commission from a local Brisbane community group to undertake research into their history, which prompted me to begin acquiring more items that dealt with LGBT culture and history, particularly local history. To my dismay, texts on Queensland’s LGBT history were few and far between, out of print, or not readily accessible, but nonetheless it encouraged me to look further afield, and discover a range of interesting texts that were both useful as well as enjoyable to read.

The resulting collection, which admittedly is still in its infancy, is thoroughly a working collection and as such is subject to idiosyncrasies that are less visible in encyclopædic or curated libraries. Nonetheless, three distinct categories of collecting can be observed in the selected works: Australian and international LGBT history; LGBT art and artists; and LGBT Leather community history. Some of the works in the collection are currently in print and readily available, others were published long ago, and were acquired second-hand, and a few are limited or numbered editions that are scarce.

Of the works in the collection, perhaps the most exciting for me is a complete set of Gay Monopoly: A Celebration of Gay Life!, produced by Fire Island Games in 1983. A friend who was moving away from Queensland gave this to me along with a copy of William Yang’s Friends of Dorothy, a small archive of gay motor club materials, and a case of well-and-truly corked South Australian shiraz. Prior to arriving at his home, I didn’t know he had this game, and much to my surprise unlike most board games, the set was still in complete, though well-used condition. Gay Monopoly is perhaps the most well-known of the small number of games aimed towards the LGBT market, and references the high camp and overtly sexual culture of the late-70s and early 80s prior to the emergence of the AIDS epidemic across the world. I as most surprised to recently receive a softcover copy of James Addinall’s An Illustrated Guide to the Hanky Code, which I had been meaning to purchase for some time but never got around to prior to Addinsall restricting publishing to an e-book version only. The book is filled with illustrations and text from several people who I know well, and it arrived in the mail with a delightful note from a close friend who had been saving it for me. By far the most elaborate work in the collection is a copy of Donald Friend’s The Farce of Sodom, decadently bound in half black morocco and plum velvet, with tipped in illustrations.

My friend’s note in An Illustrated Guide to the Hanky Code is not the only inscription present through the collection, which speaks somewhat to my own biography as well. While I have purchased some of the items in the collection, colleagues and friends who thought that I might be interested in the work have handed several other books in the collection to me. This in itself speaks to the nature of interpersonal relationships and reinforces the strong LGBT community element in the library, while at the same time maintaining the collection’s idiosyncrasy and refusal to be formally constrained by a curatorial ethic. Speaking to this topic, I too have also used books as a significant way of connecting with others – my best friend, an enthusiastic reader of Oscar Wilde,

has received a number of Wilde readers and reappraisals from me in the past, as well as two original works: the first American printing of Wilde’s Portrait of Mr

W.H. in original slipcase, and an uncut, 1905 private printing of Wilde’s Poems in Prose by Charles Carrington, one of only 50 copies produced by the publisher on heavy Japanese vellum.

Ultimately, my ambition is to continue building a library that is practical and purposeful to my own needs as a researcher, with the inclusion of some truly special volumes, distinguished by their binding, limited print run, or provenance. I anticipate some books will be rare, others will contain salacious or erotic content, others again will be commonplace general reference books or stories. I don’t want the materials to sit on shelves, admired for their presence only, but rather be held, opened, read, and shared with others. The tales that lay within their pages cannot be told if they are simply relegated to the mantelpiece.

WISH LIST

FRIEND, Donald

Bumbooziana and Bumbooziana Portfolio

Melbourne: Gryphon Books, 1979 (inscribed 1975). Leather-bound signed and numbered publication (ed. 150) with 22 loose lithographs (some double sided) (ed. 100)

 Bumbooziana and its accompanying portfolio is the apex of Donald Friend’s work in artist books. It is a sumptuous edition and would sit perfectly alongside Friend’s two books that I already hold, Tides of Sensuality and The Farce of Sodom, which bookend Bumbooziana’s publication.

TOWNSEND, Larry

The Leatherman’s Handbook

New York: The Traveller’s Companion Inc. (Olympia Press), 1972. Paperback, 319pp.

At the time of it’s publication in 1972, The Leatherman’s Handbook was the only definitely exploration of America’s gay S&M scene. An extremely scarce edition today, even poor quality copies sell for strong prices. This would make a fine counterpoint to The Leatherman’s Handbook II: The Sequel, already in my collection, to evidence the maturation of the leather community in America through the 1970s and difference in focus on sexual practices pre- and post-AIDS.

 CLARK, Fiona

Fiona Clark: Living with AIDS 1988

 Auckland: Michael Lett, 2018. 3vo. Case-bound, blue cloth hardcovers, 110pp (ed. 500).

In 1988 Fiona Clark took four volumes of photographs recording elements of the AIDS Epidemic in New Zealand; these photographs were exhibited at the Dowse Art Museum and later acquired by Te Papa Tongarewa. In 2018 Michael Lett published facsimiles of these albums, with an essay by David Herkt and a conversation with the author. The book was a shortlisted finalist in the 2019 Penguin Random House New Zealand Award for Best Illustrated Book, testament to its arresting design. This book would be a beautiful artist edition to my collection, but also provide an alternative lens to the imagery captured by William Yang in his own documentary of the AIDS crisis through his friend Allan.

THE COLLECTION

ADDINSALL, James (ed.)

An Illustrated Guide To The Hanky Code.

 Melbourne: privately printed through Blurb e-publishers, 2018. 16.8 x 17.1cm gloss softcover, 56pp. First Edition. Unnumbered limited edition containing 22 digital illustrations and text. Foreword by Stephen Morgan, Laird Leatherman 2015.

This volume was conceived and developed by James Addinsall during his title year as Laird Leatherman 2017. The book contains 22 artistic interpretations of the colours of the hanky code, alongside which are short quotes and stories from friends of the author. The book contains a list of artists with contact emails and social media handles.

The book was published with the support of Mannhaus and The Laird, and profits from book sales went to Positive Women Victoria, an organisation that helps Victorian women living with HIV. The edition was published in soft and hardcover formats, which were discontinued in 2019, and a e-publication, which is still available for sale.

This title is not held in any Australian state or national collections. A copy is held in the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives, Melbourne; and a hardcover copy signed by the Laird Leathermen from 2009-2018 is held in the resource collection of Knotbound Inc.

This copy was a gift from Liam Clark, contributor to the book, Melbourne Rubberman 2016 and First Runner Up, Mr International Rubber 2016. Loosely enclosed in the book is a note from Clark to the current owner.

My Dearest [name],

I’ve been trying to remember to send you or bring you this book for about two years now. Wait no – nearly three?

Either way, finally! Enjoy it!

You are a very special person in my life and I care about you so, so much. Thanks

for always being there for me.

xoxo

Liam

ANDREWS, Vincent L

The leatherboy Handbook

Las Vegas: The Nazca Plains Corporation, 2008. First Edition. Octavo softcover, 184pp [2]. Black and white illustrations in text.

boy vince is a noted author, community volunteer, and leatherworker in the American Midwest. His desire to create The leatherboy Handbook stemmed from his own learning that history, protocol, dress standards, and behavior of ‘boy’ archetypes in leather communities were not readily available and at times contested. Andrews freely admits in his text that these are his own personal observations and may be disputed by other members of the community; this is confirmed by the editor of the book, Sir Grey Cooper, who wrote in his foreword ‘I won’t say that I agree 100 percent with everything that he says in this book – but then again, I don’t have to’.¹

The book is process driven, with chapters devoted to the history of the leather community, understanding and negotiating BDSM dynamics, fashion, protocol, and leather titles. It is informative, while maintaining an easy reading, conversive approach to writing. A second, revised edition of the book was published by Adyanton in 2012 under the title The Complete leatherboy Handbook.

BRICKELL, Chris (co-editor)

COLLARD, Judith (co-editor)

Queer Objects

Dunedin: Otago University Press, 2019. 25 x 21.1cm softcover, [2] 416pp [2].

First Edition. Text and colour illustrations.

Queer Objects features 63 essays by 55 authors to interrogate specific objects to chart the history of LGBT+ culture around the world. From ancient Greek statues to the modern-day smartphone, this lavishly illustrated book investigates a diverse and disparate range of LGBT history through the lens of those who created, used, or preserved the objects. Otago University Press entered into an agreement with Rutgers University Press and Manchester University Press for publication rights across North America and the United Kingdom. This volume is the Otago University Press edition.

BYFORD, Ian

Passing Glances: A History of Gay Cairns

 Cairns: privately printed, 2016. A4 softcover, [6] vii 107pp [2]. First and Only Edition. Text and colour illustrations. Enclosed is an A5 4pp card outlining a Cairns gay history walk with the author, produced after the book’s publication as a part of the 2017 Cairns Tropical Pride festival.

In this publication, Ian Byford has collected reminiscences from present and former LGBT residents of Cairns to track the places and personalities associated with the region’s homosexual history. The richly illustrated is the only dedicated history on the LGBT history of Cairns but the private printing is evident in the varying quality of images and occasional changes in font, text size, and style.

This book was a gift to the current owner from Dr Jonathan Richards, who saw it while visiting the Cairns Museum in 2019.

FIRE ISLAND GAMES INC. (manufacturer)

THE PARKER SISTERS (trading name)

Gay Monopoly: A Celebration of Gay Life!

West Hollywood: Fire Island Games Inc., 1983. First and Only Edition. Board game consisting of 1 board, 8pp rule book (unpaginated), 2 die, 12 white metal bath tokens, 30 foiled card ‘Ollie’s Bar’ tokens, 6 white metal player tokens (hairdryer, handcuffs, Jeep, Muir cap, stiletto heel, teddy bear: complete), 1 additional white metal hairdryer player token (sundry), 16 ‘Manhipulation’ cards, 31 ‘Ollie’s Sleaze Bag’ cards, 21 ‘Family Pride’ cards, 28 property cards, play money in $1, $3, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $500 denominations (complete). Some foxing and staining to some property cards and the rule book, otherwise very fine, complete condition.

Gay Monopoly is a tongue-in-cheek version of the popular Parker Brothers board game Monopoly. The creators of this edition, Fire Island Games, replaced standard Monopoly items with symbols of gay male leather culture. The board takes on a circular format instead of the traditional Monopoly square board format; players collect bars instead of houses and bathhouses instead of hotels; and properties are named after significant US locations for gay men. Additional to the two wild card formats (Manhipulation replacing Community Chest and Ollie’s Sleaze Bag replacing Chance), the Family Pride cards educate players with short biographies on significant gay historical figures, from Alexander the Great to Oscar Wilde. Fire Island Games intended to release a companion version of this game aimed at the Lesbian market titled ‘Lesbian Monopoly’, but this was never realised.

Frank Croucher, Mr Queensland Leather 1999, and former committee member of the Rangers Motor Club and the Boot Company Brisbane gifted this game to the current owner.

FRIEND, Donald

Tides of Sensuality: Working Drawings and Studies for a Major Work to be Titled Bumbooziana

Melbourne: Gryphon Books, 1978. Quarto, gilt-decorated in red cloth with black dust jacket, 152pp (unpaginated). First and Only Edition. Copy 5 of 350 numbered copies signed by the artist, the first 100 of which contain an original signed drawing by the artist. Foreword by Elizabeth Summons.

This volume contains just short of 80 preliminary pen sketches that Friend developed for his major artist book, Bumbooziana, published in 1979.

Recognising the value of these drawings as a marketing tool for the major work, Richard Griffin quickly designed and published Tides, and the book was launched on 8 November 1978 at Margareta Webber's bookstore in Melbourne amidst ‘a quartet with harpsichord playing 18th-century music, good champagne and a crowd of literary people.’²

The content of the illustrations is ribald and profane. Friend’s confidently drafted drawings depict acts of bestiality, sodomy, exhibitionism, marital unfaithfulness, obscene behaviour, and violence; and occasional melancholic poems muse on the artist's age and weariness:

When, sans teeth sans hair, I ceased loving, and took to History instead, Old inclinations led me to seek out tattered palimpsests, the chronicles of poor lovers. It took years to find your name, buried beneath a dozen others. And amongst THEM, painfully deciphered, my own, written in a hand of former times.

Friend was happy with the work, remembering ‘It is very elegant and beautifully produced. Richard an everyone concerned have done a marvellous book.’³

 GRAY, Sally (editor)

David McDiarmid: when this you see remember me

Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2014. Quarto hardcover exhibition catalogue with dust jacket featuring rainbow metallic foil detail, [12] 193pp [3]. First and Only Edition. Text with black and white and colour illustrations.

David McDiarmid was a key Australian gay artist and activist through the 1980s. His diverse body of work ranged from simple sketches and drawings to large-scale floats for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, small sculptures, hand-painted fashion and textile designs, poster art, and performance pieces. This catalogue was produced to accompany McDiarmid’s retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2014.

As is to be expected with modern exhibitions catalogues from major museums is luxuriant paper stock, strong design, and high quality images. This text packs all of that, but adds many personal elements, including words from McDiarmid himself, candid recollections of the artist by the curator of the exhibition, references and reactions to the artist’s sexuality and art by leading critics and friends, as well as more traditional art historical approaches to the artist’s work.

HODGE, Dino

Did you meet any malagas? A homosexual history of Australia’s tropical capital

Nightcliff: Little Gem Publications, 1993. A4 format softcover with colour artwork by Gary Lee, [12] iv [4] 233pp [3]. First and Only Edition. Black and white illustrations in text.

Dino Hodge’s book provides the first major history of gay life in Darwin, from colonial times until the 1980s. This is a densely typed book with a lot of content, including a number of incredibly valuable transcriptions of interviews that the author conducted with residents. An index at the back of the book provides ease of reference.

In this volume, a bookplate has glued inside front cover with image of two sailors embracing, it reads ‘EX LIBRIS HOMOEROTICIS/ Dr GARY SIMES’.

This book was a gift to the current owner from Dr Jonathan Richards, who saw it while visiting a Brisbane second-hand book store.

JOY, KL

Australian Women’s Leather History Project Zine: Vol.1

Ballarat: privately printed by KL Joy with support from the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives, 2019. Octavo, 12pp, printed on copy paper. First Edition. Colour illustrations in text.

KL Joy is a Melbourne-based bootblack, founding member of Vic Leather, and contestant in International Ms Bootblack 2018. Their interest in leather preservation and women’s history was combined to begin the Australian Leather Women’s History Project in 2017. In this first zine that has been produced as a part of this project, they have briefly outlined their desire to conduct oral histories with several notable leather women around Australia, and provided biographies on Mistress Electra Amore, Mistress Tokyo, Gabrielle Antolovich, Gigi Legenhausen, and founders of Karnal Leather, Jo Kingskin and Nikki Goldspink. As at February 2020, a second zine in this series has not been produced.

This title is not currently held in any Australian state or national collection, however a copy is likely to be deposited in the National Library of Australia’s zine collection imminently by Nick Henderson. A copy is held in the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives, Melbourne.

This zine was presented to the current owner by KL Joy in 2019. The header margin on page 12 of the book is inscribed ‘[name] copy.’

LEVINE, Martin P. (author)

KIMMEL, Michael S. (editor and contributing author) Gay Macho: the Life and Death of the Homosexual Clone

New York: New York University Press, 1998. Octavo softcover, xiv 260pp [4]. First and Only Edition. Text and black and white diagrams. Purchased second-hand, some marks to the cover and folds in pages, rust on preface pages from a paperclip.

Sociologist Martin Levine undertook groundbreaking research into the relationships gay men had with masculinity and affected masculine archetypes. His exhaustive study involved interviews, assessment of gay mens’ geographical landscapes, statistical analysis and personal experience of men socially and sexually. Gay Macho is a collection of Levine’s texts consolidated by his friend and colleague Michael Kimmel. Some of these writings were previously presented as conference papers or lectures, and the later the writings were made, an increased focus was placed on gay mens’ consideration of sex, HIV, and AIDS. Levine was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1988 and became symptomatic with AIDS in 1991. He died in 1993.

MOORE, Clive

Sunshine and Rainbows: The Development of Gay and Lesbian Culture in Queensland.

St Lucia: University of Queensland Press 2001. Octavo softcover, xiv 244pp [14].

First and Only Edition. Text with two blocks of black and white plate pages.

Condition: fair – some foxing to the edges of pages.

Clive Moore wrote the first definitive history of Queensland gay and lesbian community using his own historical research and interviews with prominent and active figures in the local Queensland community. The thorough research of this scholarly history book uses hundreds of primary and secondary sources, though at times passages in the book lack citations, making it difficult to ascertain where to seek further information. An index at the back makes for easier finding of topics and personalities, and the book is arranged chronologically from colonial times until the 1990s.

REDFORD, Scott (artist)

Guy in the Dunes

Brisbane: Institute of Modern Art, 1997. 21cm x 21cm softcover with metallic foil highlight to the cover, 64pp. First and Only Edition. Text with black and white and colour illustrations.

This monograph looks at the art work of Queensland artist Scott Redford, and features essays by Chris McAuliffe, Christopher Chapman, Rex Butler, David Phillips, and Robert Schubert. Some works within Redford’s oeuvre deal directly with sexuality, a number of which are portrayed and discussed in this book.

RHODES, Dave (editor)

The Leather Journal (periodical)

West Hollywood: Cedar Publishing Corporation. Quarto magazine format, varying paginations, black and white text and illustrations. Issues 28 (November 1991) - 31, 34-37, 41-43, 45-49 (August 1993)

The Leather Journal was a monthly publication founded by Dave Rhodes in May 1987 as North America’s leather community magazine, and has since grown into an online publication celebrating the international leather community. Issues of the magazine contain well-illustrated wrap-ups of major leather events around America, as well as interviews with titleholders and significant leather personalities, and occasional historical features such as reminiscences of Tom of Finland (issue 34). The Leather Journal was one of many titles produced in America at the time; another title of note was Drummer, and Australia had its own octavo format quarterly journal, Australian Leather Man. The issues in this grouping all contain some Australian content, mostly personal classified or news from the Jackaroos Motor Club.

This group of magazines was given to the current owner by curator Nick Henderson after learning of their interest in gay men’s leather and motor club history. Small pieces of paper tabbing Australian content are interleaved into each edition.

ROBERTS, Luke (curator)

REDFORD, Scott (curator)

You are here

Brisbane: Institute of Modern Art, 1992. 26 x 19cm, ringbound hardcover exhibition catalogue, embossed cover, [2] 48pp [2]. First and Only Edition. Text and colour illustrations.

You are here was a project curated by Luke Roberts and Scott Redford while they worked together under the artist-run initiative AGLASSSOFWATER. It was displayed at the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, Martin Brown Fine Art in Sydney, and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Melbourne. The book publishes essays by David Phillips, Thomas Sokolowski, Sunil Gupta, and Terence Maloon, interspersed with colour plates reproducing works of art by Bashir Baraki, Leonard Brown, Peter Cooley, Juan Davila, Brent Harris, Matthew Jones, David McDiarmid, Scott Redford, Luke Roberts, Hiram To, Peter Tully, and Ross Wallace. A particular theme of the text and works on display was HIV/AIDS, which was a particular focus of queer artists globally as the epidemic was at its height at this time.

This catalogue was presented to the current owner by artist Luke Roberts in 2012.

SMAAL, Yorick

Sex, Soldiers and the South Pacific, 1939-45: Queer Identities in Australia in the Second World War

Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 22.4 x 14.5cm hardcover, xxi, [3] 250pp [8]. First Edition. Black and white illustrations in text.

This volume was written by Dr Yorick Smaal as a part of post-doctoral research carried out during an Australian Research Council DECRA Research Fellowship at Griffith University. The book discusses the maturity of queer identities and communities within military and civilian worlds in Queensland during the Second World War, and provides specific examples of relationships and official attempts to regulate and contain expressions of homosexuality at the time.

This copy was purchased by the owner at a modest launch for the publication at Griffith University, Brisbane. The author inscribed the endpaper:

Dear [name]

With very best wishes!

Yorick xx.

THOMPSON, Mark (editor)

Leather-Folk: Radical Sex, People, Politics, and Practice

Boston: Alyson Publications, Inc., 1992. Octavo softcover, xx [4] 328pp. First and Softcover Edition. Text with black and white illustrations.

This unique text blends personal experiences of Kink and BDSM practices with scholarly reflections on gay men’s sexuality and sexual practices. For example, esteemed anthropologist Gayle Rubin writes about the by-then-closed Catacombs sex on premises venue in San Francisco, which was one of the business casualities of the AIDS epidemic, while Australian-born Gabrielle Antolovich shares her story in immersing herself in leather culture and S/M play. This text nicely brings together the discussion of BSM as a practice and Kink as a cultural phenomenon in the United States.

TOWNSEND, Larry

The Leatherman’s Handbook II: The Sequel

Los Angeles: LT Publications, 2000. Octavo softcover, [6] 320pp [2 pages of authors advertising]. Fifth Edition. Black and white text.

Larry Townsend released the original edition of The Leatherman’s Handbook in 1972 through Olympia Press, and this sequel was written a decade later. The book deals with the history and practices of men’s leather culture and BDSM practices, including sexual practices, piercing, master/slave relationship dynamics, health and drug use, and other topics. Interspersed within the essays are raunchy fantasy stories, and a survey conducted in 1982 to ascertain trends within the leather community on a selection of topics.

This reprint is the fifth edition of the 1982 sequel, and contains further editorial notes and discussions on particular topics. The limited print runs that all editions of The Leatherman’s Handbook makes this a desirable piece of literature on the topic.

This book was presented to the current owner by their partner as a Christmas present in 2015.

WILMOT, John (author)

FRIEND, Donald (co-author and illustrator)

The Farce of Sodom

 Melbourne: Gryphon Books, 1980. Large folio, original half black morocco and plum velvet, in original black morocco slipcase, all by M. & M. Binders. 88pp, colour illustrated endpapers, 17 colour plates tipped in, black and white frontispiece and illustrations in text. Original 4pp prospectus on buff paper loosely enclosed. First and Only Edition. Copy 107 of 250 numbered copies, of which only 240 were provided for sale. Signed by the illustrator.

 In January 1979 Friend became aware of Richard Griffin’s acquisition of a 1957 Olympia Press traveller’s companion edition of John Wilmot, 3^rd Earl of Rochester’s work The Farce of Sodom. Griffin presented this to Friend in Melbourne on 3 March 1979, and Friend’s initial reaction to the work was stale It is indeed an obscene play, and only parts of it show the genius one finds in his verses. The need to make each line, each speech as obscene as the rest imposes a monotonous crudity. The effect is immature on the whole, like undergraduate jokes.4

 Later that year, Friend began working on ‘quite shocking’ illustrations to publish alongside the text, which was completed and printed by April 1980.⁵ The book, which was limited to a run of 250 copies only, with the first 240 being available for sale. The remaining 10 copies were fully bound in red morocco and decorated by the artist, and were retained in his possession. The work originally retailed at the pre-order price of $500 and $600 thereafter.

YANG, William

Friends of Dorothy

Sydney: Macmillan, 1997. 32 x 24cm softcover, 168pp. First and Only Edition.

Black and white photographs reproduced with accompanying text.

This book publishes a selection of William Yang’s photographic documentation of Australian LGBT+ culture from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s, with a particular emphasis on the Sydney gay scene. Most important about this volume is the diversity of subjects represented; now-lost sections of Australian LGBT+ community including pre-AIDS leather community, early Sydney sauna culture, Jack Vidgen’s R.A.T. parties, and the Capriccios revue are interspersed with images of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, popular dance parties and raves, and Asian homosex communities in Australia. Yang’s impulsive tendencies with the camera reveal the richness of Australia’s gay scene, and the overloaded pages of images in this book highlight the closeness of this community in the era of law reform and emergence out of oppression.

Frank Croucher, Mr Queensland Leather 1999, and former committee member of the Rangers Motor Club and the Boot Company Brisbane gifted this book to the current owner.