Iain Clacher
An Australian activist and academic whose early books on
homosexuality are credited with influencing the gay liberation movement of the
70s has been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday List.
Professor Dennis Altman, whose 1971 book Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation is
regarded as a seminal text of the gay liberation era, was appointed a Member of
the Order of Australia (AM) on Monday.
A professor of politics at Melbourne’s La Trobe University, Altman
has also played a major role in the development of HIV/AIDS policy.
He was president of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific from
2001 until 2005.
Altman said he had mixed feelings about his award.
“I think having attention called to oneself is always slightly embarrassing, even for someone like me who is a bit of an exhibitionist,” he told MCV.
“I think the gay community might want to reflect a bit on the honours system and whether there aren’t people who have contributed to the movement who should be honoured, and people can read that as encouragement to start nominating people."
Curiously, the official citation that explains the reason for the award does not mention Altman's pioneering and enduring contribution to gay sexual politics.
“I think that if I looked at my career from outside, which is almost impossible to do, the most significant impact I’ve had is in areas of sexual politics, and the most significant books I’ve written have been on sexual politics, and that’s not reflected adequately in the citation," Altman said.
“Apparently the press release on the awards didn’t even go to the gay press. I think that’s quite revealing. I’m very grateful the gay press is taking it up."
When asked to name his greatest achievement, Altman said he was “in the right place at the right time”.
“As a consequence I wrote a couple of books, particularly Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation, and a couple of books on AIDS in the 80s, which sparked discussion and helped other gay activists.”
Altman's other books include The Homosexualisation of America, AIDS in the Mind of America, AIDS and the
New Puritanism, Gore Vidal’s America and The Comfort of Men.
Dr Graham Willett, author of Living Out Loud: A
History of Gay and Lesbian Activism in Australia, and lecturer at the Australian Centre, University of Melbourne, said Altman often captured the
zeitgeist as a social commentator and author.
“Dennis’s books stand as clear indications of the state of
thinking about an issue at the moment of their publication,” Willett said.
“He’s perhaps Australia’s longest-serving gay activist, and
has established a reputation well beyond the national stage. His international
reputation began with his first book, Homosexual:
Oppression and Liberation, which appeared around the same time and had the
same international impact as Greer’s The
Female Eunuch.”
Henry Minton in Gay
and Lesbian Studies credits Altman’s Homosexual:
Oppression and Liberation as “the first post-Stonewall book on the politics
of gay liberation”.
“Two of the most influential works that framed a great deal
of the writing on gay and lesbian studies were Dennis Altman’s Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation
and Kate Millet’s Sexual Politics,” Minton
wrote.
The book suggested correctly that the shared experience of
homophobia could spawn a progressive gay movement.
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