Photography at the gay and lesbian mardi gras
Anyone even only vaguely familiar with current debates within gay and lesbian cultural theory, and within the gay press more generally, will know that 'queer' has had a substantial profile over the past couple of years, a profile which has largely arisen from the often highly charged debate which the word has generated. Aside, however, from the usually reductive 'for' and 'against' arguments over whether 'queer' should be used even as a term of self-naming by gays and lesbians, the more interesting aspect of this exchange has been about definitions and tactics, that is, which, and whose, definition of 'queer' is being deployed, and to what effect. The use of the epithet 'queer' to anchor the two major photography shows, Queerography and Remain in Light, at the 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is itself an instance of the recent near-hegemony of the word and, since this use of the term clearly signals some polemical intent, any response to these exhibitions needs to situate them in relation to the various currencies of 'queer'.
the currencies of queer
A somewhat cynical reading of the profile of 'queer' in Australia might argue that its usage is yet another instance of a reflex mimicry of the United States of America where the term 'queer' largely originated from the political activity and rhetorics of groups such as ACT UP.1 Prompted by the recognition (in the wake of massive governmental indifference and media hysteria in response to the AIDS crisis) that gays and lesbians, despite the (apparent) gains of civil rights, still faced a deeply homophobic, indeed genocidal, political and cultural agenda, 'queer' in the U.S. signalled a rejection of what were... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline
Michele Barker, Outer Space, 1994. Type C colour print. 124.5 x 49 cm
Lisa Zanderigo & Kaye Shumack, The Wig. Type C colour print. 112 x 150 cm
