Activism: CAMP Inc

The formation of a gay rights group in Sydney in 1970 was inspired by what was happening in America. Ian Black knew the founders of Camp Inc and was one of the founding members. Peter Trebilco describes the formation of Camp Inc. Brian Woodward describes the first public meeting, and Mark Matheson describes going to their club rooms.

John Storey remembers the night that the group held their first demonstration. CAMP’s lobbying was another of its achievements. Robyn Plaister shares her memories and Sue Wills describes efforts to challenge the psychiatric community’s views on homosexuality.

CAMP Inc established Phone-a-friend, the precursor to the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service. Brian Woodward was involved.

In October 1972 Peter Bonsall-Boone and partner Peter de Waal, along with Sue Wills and Gaby Antolovich, appear in front of a national TV audience. Peter de Waal describes the consequences of the ABC Chequerboard Program.

The groundbreaking Australian 1972 ABC documentary, Chequerboard, was the first to feature a gay male kiss on Australian television. It features interviews with CAMP Inc members, Peter de Waal, Peter (Bon) Bonsall-Boone, Gaby Antolovich and Sue Wills.

Peter and Bon agreed to appear on the original Chequerboard series as a political statement, yet even they could not have imagined the wide reaching ramifications of their kiss on the program. The first reaction was from Bon's employer who sacked him from his job as a secretary in a church in Mosman on Sydney's North Shore after the show went to air. Having started off as simply another couple on television, they became the focal point of gay rights activism and have spent their life after Chequerboard campaigning relentlessly.