"LIVING OUR LIVES" project

Disclaimer: The following is provided for your information. It is NOT a Long Yang project. We are merely passing on the details so you can participate if you wish.

Ian Withers
Co-ordinator

WHAT IS "LIVING OUR LIVES" ALL ABOUT?

This is an oral history project, instigated by a private individual (Peter Williamson), with the aim of collecting some of the memories and stories of men who have lived all or part of their lives as gay or homosexual.

There are some other collections like this available in Australia, but most focus on specific events or happenings (e.g. the impact of HIV/AIDS). This project aims to collect stories about life as a gay or homosexual man, with no focus on anything specific - just the story of the individual life and any of the things that come to mind when remembering that life. There is a list of the questions that have formed the framework for some of the other interviews already made as part of this project attached to the end of this document.

These interviews provide a tangible record that gay or homosexual men have been always been a part of the life and the history of Sydney They are a developing resource that can make a contribution to the enlightenment and education of younger gay men about the past and about the existence of other men like themselves in the past.

So far, in the telling of their life stories, participants have talked about the history of gay life in Sydney, about life in the country as a gay man, what it is like to mature and grow older as a gay or homosexual man generally, how difficult situations have been resolved, and how some people have lived their lives happily or not so happily, successfully or not successfully, experiencing prejudice or sailing through life without any experience of that.

WHAT IS ORAL HISTORY?

Oral history is the process of recording interviews with individuals who have lived through an experience or period of history, talking about those experiences or that period. The interviews are usually recorded on audio tapes. This project uses audio tapes.

This particular oral history project is about recording the memories of what sort of things happened to ordinary men; the things they saw; or how they met one another in a social milieu that is different to the one that exists today; or other life experiences that they had.

These things do not have to be the most exciting, the most interesting, the most exotic or unusual experiences. History is so much more than the doings and sayings of important, rich, well-known or unusual individuals.

It is not about "naming names" or revealing personal details necessarily, although such things do potentially make stories more interesting for some listeners! There is absolutely no obligation on the part of participants to tell more than they are willing, or even to be identified beyond a first name basis. Confidentiality will be respected at all times.

WHO IS CONDUCTING THIS PROJECT?

Peter Williamson is a private individual and a gay man. He has a personal interest in the histories of men who have lived the gay or homosexual life in Sydney, over the last fifty or more years. His primary interest in this project is commitment to belief that gay men have contributed much to the general community and that their lives should be recorded wherever possible, for the education and validation of those who will be gay men in the future, fifty or one hundred years from the present time. Another personal belief is that the way to continue to reduce prejudice towards gay men in Australian society is to collect, preserve and make accessible, stories of the gay men who have always lived in that society, as neighbours, friends and family.

Peter has considerable experience conducting interviews. He is trained as an occupational therapist with a professional interest in older people. He has been conducting this project since 1995, and has written about it for professional journals and presented some of the stories at international conferences. These presentations are only ever done with the full consent of the individuals who have shared their stories with him. It is important to point out that this project is not a research project. It is not funded or controlled by any university, public institution or organisation.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE TAPES?

All participants receive a copy of any tape they have been a part of recording. If requested, a transcript, which is a word-for-word written version of the taped interview, can be provided at a nominal cost.

The Mitchell Library, part of the State Library of NSW holds a collection of community oral histories and some of the tapes made so far have been donated to the this library. The Mitchell Library also holds collections of other items about the history of homosexuality in Australia and NSW, including material from the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Where each individual tape is to be stored, and who will have access to it and when the tape will be available to bona fide researchers or the general public, is carefully negotiated with each person who participates. Some of the interviewees have asked that their tapes not be accessible for over one hundred years. Others have asked that no part of the tape be broadcast in any form. Others have placed no restriction on who can access the tapes or when they should be made available to whomever wants to listen to them, once they have been donated to the library.

HOW DO I BECOME INVOLVED?

If you are interested in participating in this project, or think you know someone who might be, please call Peter Williamson on (02)9516 5406 at any time. Please leave a message if there is no one home to take your call and he will get back to you as soon as possible.

PLEASE NOTE - THE MAJORITY OF INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED SO FAR HAVE BEEN WITH MEN WHO ARE ANGLO-SAXON OR FROM OTHER ANGLO-CELTIC BACKGROUNDS. THIS IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GENERAL POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA, NOW OR IN THE PAST. IF YOU KNOW OF ANYONE WHO IS HAS A BACKGROUND OTHER THAN ANGLO-SAXON

OR

ANGLO-CELTIC AND WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING, PLEASE CONTACT PETER WILLIAMSON AT THE ABOVE NUMBER.

QUESTIONS:

- What is your full name?

- Where and when were you born?

-What were your parent's names?

- Do you know where and when they were born?

- Did you have any brothers and or sisters?

- What were their names?

- When were they born?

- Do you know of any other gay or lesbian people in your family?

- Tell me about your early life

- What do you call the sexual attraction you have to other men?

- When did you first become aware of it?

- Can you tell me about that time or event?

- Was that your first experience?

- What do you call yourself, as a man who is attracted to other men?

- Have you always used that word/those words?

- Have you ever used any other words to refer to it?

- Do you know of any other words that are used to describe it?

- Tell me about your experiences at school. Do your family know?

- Tell me about how you told them. How did they react?

- What did they say?

- Have you ever been discriminated against or attacked because of other peoples perceptions of you as a gay man?( Tell me about that)

- What sort of work do you/did you do?

- Have you ever had a partner? ( Tell me about how you met him)

- Did you ever know any lesbians?

- How? What did you call them?

- What do you think of the idea of a gay community?

- Is there such a thing? ( Why/Why not )

- Do you feel a part of that community?

- What is it that makes you feel a part of it?

- Do you remember the first Sydney Mardi Gras?

- Have you ever participated?

- Do you remember the first time you heard about it?

- What do you think of it now?

- Do you have a lot to do with younger gay men, say under 30?

- How do they treat you?

- If you had some advice to give to the younger gay men of today, what would it be?

Please note that these questions can be modified or ignored, depending on the information that the participant wishes to provide, or the degree of confidentiality they would like to maintain. For example, some participants have told stories without reference to these questions. Others have not wanted to divulged their names while recording, so the first several questions were not asked.

Peter Williamson
Home: 9516 5406
Work: 9351 9386 ( Wednesday/Thursday/Friday)
e-mails: ot_peter@otto.cchs.usyd.edu.au OR pyx64@hotmail.com