Queersland

Queersland presents a unique collection of stories, poetry and images spanning almost 80 years in the queer life of Queensland. Stories represent the early times when coming out meant risking your life and others tell of fleeing the persecutions of a harsh police state in search of a better life down south and beyond. Writers bear witness to those who resisted oppression and hatred to build safe spaces and change hearts and minds. Stories of discomfort, disconnection and despair weave between those of creation and collaboration; stories of love, commitment and chosen families. Beware, not all is well in the Sunshine State. Brisbane’s City Hall clock chimes midnight, it’s 1945 and two men huddle against the shadow of war and family expectation. A city in flood. A life lost. Then another. Wages stolen. Sex deployed as violence. Civility rumbles. Mud. Blood. Frangipani scents the air as a young woman leaves her state behind. John Travolta thrills a teenage boy in a north Queensland town. Another escapes and finds sex in a city park. A nurse bears witness to shock therapy for a trans woman. A Pride festival is born. A conversion therapy seminar is disrupted. Lesbians in flannelette protest. A fist is raised on a dance floor in celebration and defiance. A mermaid becomes an eel and anything could happen. Cracks appear and hope gushes through. Remarkable stories from queer Queensland writers spanning almost 80 years of dynamic social histories, as varied as the landscape itself. Combining fiction, memoir, poetry and images, Queersland showcases the struggle to survive in a culture that barely tolerated difference and at times violently suppressed it. Funny, raw, heartbreaking and brave, these stories shine a light on our potential for sex and love beyond the norm, and ultimately calls for a more compassionate and generous way of being in our world.Welcome to Queersland.