Preaching to the Perverted: the Life and Times of Michael Glynn

Abstract

Michael Glynn was a young American who came to Sydney in the 1970s and established a gay newspaper called the Sydney Star. Glynn was convinced that Sydney's fledgling gay community needed its own newspaper to raise gay consciousness and to talk back to power. From 1979 onwards, the Sydney Star played a critical role in the evolution, growth and survival of Sydney's gay community. It celebrated new sexual identities; it was the first publication in Australia to report the arrival of AIDS; and it helped the gay movement achieve profound social and political reforms. Michael Glynn left behind a small band of friends and co-workers, and a shoebox full of personal papers and diaries. Preaching to the Perverted draws on these sources to tell the story of a newspaper’s role in the evolution of a community, as well as a deeply personal story of love and loss, pride, prejudice and chutzpah.