History Corner:

The first governor of New South Wales set out just two crimes he believed should be punishable by death in the new colony: murder, and sodomy (aka the criminalisation of sexual acts between men). But to the great shame of the British Government, put a giant same-sex prison on an island far, far away and what do you get? ‘The Sodom of the South Seas’.

Men hugely outnumbered women in colonial Australia, no matter whether you were convict or free-settler. Despite Governor Phillip’s aspirations, and wildly racist suggestions about what should be done with those found guilty, homosexuality ran wild.

The comprehensive monitoring of inmates resulted in surprisingly robust records of queerness in colonial Australia. These prison records, while detached and discussing homosexuality only through the lens of criminality, are the most evidence from that era found anywhere in the world. Those coming from Britain were rarely of high class, had a reasonable awareness of homosexuality, and there were no women to speak of.

Of course, it’s always worth reiterating that adding more women to the situation would not have magically ‘fixed’ it. In fact, women weren’t missing out on the fun either! A Tasmanian women’s prison held an inquiry into ‘unnatural’ behaviour and found rampant evidence of inmates pleasuring each other. The same ‘issues’ plagued women’s factories.

People got so upset about all this that when the British Government held an inquiry about the success of the Transportation Project (aka the penal colony) in 1837, the project was labelled a massive ‘failure’. The inquiry likened the colony to slavery and a hotbed of ‘unnatural propensity’. Shockingly there wasn’t much mention of the Transportation Project’s impact on First Nations people…

The widespread fear of homosexuality was used as a major justification for ending the Transportation Project. But ‘the Sodom of the South Seas’ was by this point stuck with its reputation. The straighter settlers were horrified by the ‘threat’ posed to moral values and traditional families. Australia was built on homophobia, and that’s hard to undo.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for queer colonial settlers. Many lived happily in pseudo-marriage relationships, often using the classic perpetual bachelor/spinster narrative. Even more fall into the ‘probably not just roommates’ category.

Colonial homophobia is a pillar of Australia’s torrid history, with long lasting effects. And with or without the perfect, insulated, same-sex environment of a penal colony, queerness in Australia was always here to stay.

References

Aldrich, R 2003, Colonialism and homosexuality, Routledge, London. Queerstralia, The Law 2023, television program, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney, 28 February, <https://iview.abc.net.au/video/DO2122V001S00>.

Aldrich, R 2003, Colonialism and homosexuality, Routledge, London. Queerstralia, The Law 2023, television program, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sydney, 28 February, <https://iview.abc.net.au/video/DO2122V001S00>.

Smaal, Y 2017, Queer relationships in nineteenth-century Australia, Australian Women’s History Network, <http://www.auswhn.org.au/blog/queer-19th-century/>.

Smaal, Y 2017, Queer relationships in nineteenth-century Australia, Australian Women’s History Network, <http://www.auswhn.org.au/blog/queer-19th-century/>.