“Liz Ross’s provocative book challenges conventional views about the origins of modern Lesbian and Gay movements. Her insights are sure to spark debate among fighters for equal rights and liberation.” – Ali Hogg, Victorian Convenor, Equal Love

“The homosexual is essential to the sexual revolution; there can be no revolution, no liberation, without us.” Australia’s Gay Liberation movement arose at a time in world history when revolution was in the air and gays wanted to be part of it.

It was the Left which championed revolution, which had a theory and practice of revolution – Marxism. But when it comes to Gay Liberation it is often asserted that the Left was backward and even hostile, that Marxism had no tradition of dealing with sexual oppression.

This book challenges those claims and shows that the Left – and the working class – was involved from the beginning in the earliest gay rights movements and was integral to the new Gay Liberation Movement. It also refutes the claim that the Left has no intellectual tools to explain the oppression of women and gays. Looking specifically at the Left and Gay Liberation in Australia, it uncovers a rich history – and an inspiration for activists of today.