Sandra Willson spent 18 years behind bars despite being found not guilty. Her story reveals the brutal intersection of homophobia, psychiatry, and the justice system — and the feminist and queer activists who refused to let her be forgotten.

In 1950s Melbourne — a city where queerness was criminalised and lived in whispers — Val Eastwood quietly built a sanctuary. Her iconic Val’s Coffee Lounge became one of Australia’s earliest LGBTQ+ hubs, offering a lifeline to queer people who had never before seen themselves reflected in public. Val’s unapologetic style, entrepreneurial spirit, and fearless visibility changed the course of sapphic history.

A groundbreaking exhibition is opening in Melbourne this October, showcasing three decades of lesbian activism, creativity, and community-building. Lesbians Leap from the Archives 1970–2000 brings together rare materials from personal collections and national archives to honour the women who shaped feminist and lesbian culture across Australia.

Lesbian activists played a pivotal role in shaping Australia’s early gay rights movement. From the Daughters of Bilitis to CAMP INC, Gay Liberation, and Women’s Liberation, lesbians were central to public education, protest, and political organising throughout the 1960s and 1970s