2007 - Oh What A Time We Had!

Feature, By Christian Taylor, 25th December, 2007

2007 – another year over. It’s been a year of big change – truth and lies, scandal and gossip, steps forward and back. Same Same takes a look back over the year that was.

Obviously one of the biggest changes this year is that Labor’s back in power. On election night Kevin Rudd stood up and said that he would be a Prime Minister for all Australians. So far he’s sticking to his word – he’s already working on apologising to Indigenous Australia, he’s ratified Kyoto which means great things for global warming and has also pledged his support for a national relationships register. It’s not the civil unions bill that the ACT were hoping for, but it is still a step forward.

The closet got a little less crowded in 2007. Anthony Callea was nudged out with the help of large mouthed radio announcer Vic Lorusso, TV host and stage performer Tim Campbell spoke frankly about his sexuality after gossip rags suggested he and Callea were dating, Missy Higgins faced the music after referring to herself as ‘not so straight’ during an interview with a lesbian magazine, J.K. Rowling told the world that Dumbledore was gay, much to the dismay of conservative parents around the world and Jodie Foster ended years of speculation when she thanked her long term partner Cydney during an award acceptance speech.

There were a few who left us guessing. Deborah Hutton instantly springs to mind – she was outed early in 2007 and the only public response from the Hutton camp was a statement from her ex-husband Harry M Miller, who dismissed the comments as “vicious rumour and speculation.” A snide remark onstage from Dame Edna about Queensland entrepreneur Sarina Russo was met with denial, who asked if she was expected to produce a list of her ex-boyfriends to prove her heterosexuality. Condoleeza Rice and Oprah Winfrey were both romantically linked with their long time best friends and Ricky Martin’s beautician told the world that the popstar was gay, although Ricky’s said nothing about it so far.

Then there were the flat out denials that quite frankly just weren’t that convincing, like US Senator Larry Craig who was caught by police trying to solicit gay sex in a public toilet and Ian Thorpe who not only denied being gay, but went on to anoint himself as a gay icon – sorry Ian, a sporting icon yes, a gay icon – we don’t think so.

There were a few run ins with the law this year. Paris Hilton went to prison as did her friend and co-star Nicole Ritchie, Boy George ended up in hot water after supposedly tying up one of his rent boys, Darren Hayes was arrested after being accused of making racial threats towards a waiter in London and everybody’s favourite homophobes the Westboro Baptist Church were slapped with hefty bill after taking their God Hates Fags crusade to an American soldier’s funeral.

We had some big names visit our shores in 2007. Tori Amos returned for another tour, bringing her multiple personalities along with her, Pet Shop Boys wowed the crowd as part of V Festival, Mika quickly dipped his toes into Aussie life with only one show in Sydney, as did Kelly Clarkson, Elton John’s national tour proved that he’s still got it, while Robyn loved it so much here, she toured twice! Aussie rock legends Divinyls got back together again and so did the Spice Girls, announcing that they’d be touring Australia in 2008.

Meanwhile lovers of musical theatre found themselves spoiled for choice with seasons of Priscilla The Musical, Miss Saigon, Wicked, Billy Elliot, Phantom Of The Opera, Rocky Horror and Spamalot either playing or being announced.

We lost some key people in 2007 – unlikely hero Stan Zemanek died from a brain tumour, the community mourned the loss of Sydney party promoter Brett Bush, Gaydar founder Gary Frisch leapt to his death from his London apartment balcony, Tammy Faye-Messner lost her battle with cancer and the controversy surrounding the demise of Anna Nicole-Smith lived on for months after her death.

It was a big year for the Australian gay community. Melbourne enjoyed another successful Midsumma festival which concluded with a spectacular day at Treasury Gardens with Carnival and T-Dance. Midsumma also announced that next year these two events would move to become Midsumma’s launch.

Meanwhile in Sydney, David Walliams and Matt Lucas from Little Britain dropped in to kick off Mardi Gras’ 2007 festivities at Circular Quay. The 2007 Mardi Gras festival was strong and was responsible for giving two key theatrical works repeat seasons – Tommy Murphy’s Holding The Man as well as Hedwig And The Angry Inch, starring iOTA. Holding The Man went on to become a runaway success and Hedwig propelled iOTA towards his now strong theatrical career.

The Mardi Gras party season got off to a shaky start when Azure was raided by police and shut down hours early. Mardi Gras Parade went off without a hitch with 8000 colourful participants strutting their stuff in 120 floats along Oxford Street, in front of an estimated crowd of more than 300,000. A few violent incidences from some of the spectators unfortunately ruined the event for some, particularly for one volunteer marshall who was assaulted on the parade route.

The Mardi Gras Party was a huge success and showed how the organisation was moving with the times. With a diverse line up that put acts like Boy George, Young Divas and Freemasons up against Paul Mac and The Presets, it was a party to remember. Meanwhile 2008 is shaping up to be a big one, with Olivia Newton-John, Kylie and Dannii tipped to appear as party headliners, the stage is set for an awesome 30th anniversary bash. This year Mardi Gras also floated the idea of there being no more parade – an idea that has split the community right down the middle.

Sydney’s Sleaze Ball was also a runaway success – full of theatricality, surprises and costumes – the very things that Mardi Gras parties are famous for. Cosima De Vito, Toby Allen and Vanessa Amorosi, along with their community co-stars, blew the crowd away and Nikki Webster’s performance showed everyone the value of thinking outside the square.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Moscow Gay Pride was cancelled for the second year in a row thanks to their conservative leadership, Jerusalem Pride went ahead thanks to massive police protection, Taipei’s Pride Parade drew crowds of around 10,000 to 15,000, Johannesburg Pride went off without a hitch in South Africa, London Pride went ahead in spite of the discovery of car bombs in the area the day before, Folsom Street Fair caused the usual waves in San Francisco and in Singapore gay rights were put on the table, but in the end they were swept back under the rug again.

New York lost the world famous Roxy Nightclub,
Melbourne said goodbye to gay institution Q&A, while Sydney farewelled Manacle and the Newtown Hotel. The Sydney gay community became increasingly concerned about increasing violence on Oxford Street, and to help combat the problem ACON opened a new safe space.

There were some brighter moments too – Same Same announced the inaugural list of the 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians, Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore took on the NSW Liquor Industry and won, Sydney scored a new outdoor gay festival called Summer Gay Day and Brisbane enjoyed the inaugural Fluffy Festival.

In the UK Kylie was voted the top gay icon of all time, beating the likes of Madonna and Dolly Parton. Another celebrity relationship was thrown on the scrap heap when David Graham, Big Brother’s gay cowboy, broke up with his boyfriend Sherif. A straight, married Liberal MP took one for them team when he went spying in a gay sauna in Melbourne all in the name of research. Life imitated art when a storyline about a drug overdose on ABC’s comedy Summer Heights High was eerily similar to the story of Sydney school teacher Annabel Catt. Medical research warned us that oral sex can cause throat cancer.

A gay couple caught kissing out front of the colosseum caused controversy, Iowa approved gay marriage, Rhode Island banned gay divorce, Arnold Schwarzenegger stopped gay unions in California and in Iran the world looked on, appalled, as a 21 year old gay man was executed for a crime that he supposedly committed when he was just 13 – a horrendous act that put everything into perspective.

So, another jam packed year! What was your stand out moment of 2007?

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