The story of Ah Chew, convicted and flogged for attempted sodomy
Ah Chew (alias Ah Munn) was tried and convicted for attempted sodomy in Ballarat in 1871. His judicial flogging was the first ever performed at Ballarat Gaol, and was closely reported in the Ballarat press.
Beyond Buggery
Beyond Buggery: Digging Up Stories of Sex Between Men on the Victorian Goldfields. An exploration of the language used for queer acts in colonial era newspapers, including many stories from the Victorian gold rush era.
How can we lower Ballarat’s suicide toll?
Content note: suicide. There’s a Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System going on at present. Yesterday, I spoke to the Ballarat Courier about statistics that show high rates of suicide in Ballarat, especially among men. Ballarat’s Alex Bayley, who identifies as non-binary, also believes that communication could be an issue, saying: “When I see…
Disgusting, degrading and hateful: we need to stop the online abuse
Content note: transphobic abuse Today the Courier posted a followup editorial, after the article in which I spoke about transgender rights received hateful comments on the newspaper’s Facebook page. Mx Bayley had spoken with The Courier about the proposed changes to the way the gender diverse, transgender and intersex community in Victoria may soon be able to…
‘The more legal recognition we get, the safer we are’: proposed changes welcomed by gender diverse community
‘The more legal recognition we get, the safer we are’: proposed changes welcomed by gender diverse community Gender diverse, trans and intersex Victorians who wish to alter the sex listed on their birth certificates will soon be able to do so without surgery, if the state government votes in favour of amending an out-of-date legal…