A treasure trove of photos spanning more than 30 years offers a glimpse of LGBTIQA+ life including people, parties, parades and protests for equal rights.
The magazine
Founded in 1979 by Michael Glynn, The Star Observer (originally known as The Sydney Star then The Star and later The Sydney Star Observer) is Australia’s longest-running publication for LGBTIQA+ communities. The magazine shared information and documented community events and activities.
The photograph library
As the magazine was being sold in 2011, the stock photograph library, dating from c.1979 to 2011, was donated to the City Archives. The photograph library features more than 30,000 images capturing key moments from Mardi Gras parades and Fair Days to DIVA Awards (the Oscars for drag queens), protests, fundraisers, book launches and nightlife culture over the decades.
Cataloguing images
Work to catalogue this collection commenced in 2022 and has involved liaising with LGBTIQA+ communities. Due to its size and complexity the project will take several years to complete. Around 20% of the photographs will be digitised and gradually made available online.
Undigitised images can also be viewed in person at the City of Sydney Archives by appointment.
All photographs are copyright to the photographer. If you were a photographer who worked with the Sydney Star Observer, please contact archives@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au. We also invite anyone with knowledge of dates, events, locations or people featured in these photos to help enrich the descriptions.
View the first release of photographs in the Archives and History Resources catalogue or contact archives@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au for more information.
