One of the first openly gay members of the State Parliament, John Hyde has represented the diverse interests of the Northbridge community in the Lower House since 2001. He lobbied in Parliament for WA’s landmark gay and lesbian reform in 2002 and has been a visible political presence at Pride festivals. OUTinPerth’s Megan Smith sat down to talk to Mr Hyde about his views on Northbridge, past and present, as the symbolic centre of our community.

What has been the role of Northbridge in gay activism?

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I think it is very much a symbolic place. It’s nothing like the American cities that have the inner city gay heartlands. The majority of gay and lesbian people in Perth live very traditional suburban lives. Until the Labor Government was elected, the mistake was to try and replicate a Sydney paradigm or a San Francisco paradigm, that there was this mythical gay and lesbian push for living in and running a Northbridge ghetto. That’s just not the Perth case, and what I think people were doing, they were actually alienating the majority of gay and lesbian people in the suburbs. Gay and lesbian people weren’t feeling embraced by the periphery of the more radical gay and lesbian movement. It was only when the Greens and other genuine activists realized you would only get real reform by working with the mainstream. That’s why the legislation that the Labor/Greens got through this Parliament in the last eight years is the best in Australia. Adoption was clearly one of the most progressive reforms in the world, and gay and lesbian adoption is something very much from the suburban gay and lesbian community. I think that’s a further explanation as to why our reforms are different in WA than places like Sydney and elsewhere…

Don’t say, don’t tell mantra is something that survived here very much. As somebody who came from the arts, it astounded me that the most conservative political and business figures were on a one-to-one basis were very happy embracing gay and lesbian artists as long as they didn’t live a gay and lesbian public life. It astounded me when I first got involved in local council politics and state politics that long-time inner city gay and lesbian residents felt threatened by having openly gay politicians, such as myself, and openly gay business people there. I don’t want to say they stigmatized themselves, but very much in Perth there has always been gay and lesbian people in the judiciary, in the arts, in business, but they weren’t open about it.

How have you seen Northbridge change in recent years?

Northbridge has become more of a residential area and we have a 30% turnover of residents that live here. There certainly is a small gay and lesbian population that live here, but more importantly there is a huge gay and lesbian-friendly population in Northbridge. One of the most interesting demographics is the number of single men, and single straight men are the predominant demographic in Northbridge now. A lot of people don’t realize we actually have a lot of cashed up fly-in, fly-out miners… In fact, I would argue that Northbridge is less gay now then when there were three nightclubs, three bars. When we had less residents, it was more of a very visible gay and lesbian presence, perhaps a gay artistic presence too. Whereas in Mount Lawley and Leederville it has followed a traditional gay gentrification there, we are actually seeing a straight gentrification in Northbridge.

Why then is it important to preserve Northbridge’s history?

I think it is a symbolic heart, that’s why things like the [Northbridge] History Project are important. Groups like the Greek community who don’t live here so much anymore, they have embraced Northbridge as their symbolic heart.

What are some of the interesting stories coming out of the Northbridge History Project?

The fascinating thing for me is before my time in the ’50s and the early ’60s, the way gay community acted. I just find that fascinating. Being able to talk to people like Ivan King or Holly Wood or other people who have lived in the inner city for so long, those Northbridge icons, it’s just really important and I think the strength of a community is celebrating the stories of your elders.

What is the importance of Northbridge History Project for taking the community forward?

WA is in a very hedonistic, materialistic period. It is really important for the History Project to be reminding people and to be putting in the face of the hedonists and materialists, that this is an area where refugees first came to live and where the outcasts, at a time when gay and lesbian people were outcasts, felt safe.

I have been delighted that our government funded the Northbridge Project, that will be one of the issues in Opposition, I will try to make sure that the Liberals do keep funding it. It’s really imbued those values of those communities in the history.

What are your priorities now that you are in the Opposition for Northbridge?

Particularly with the perception that the bush has to be pork barrelled now, we need to ensure that the important improvements in Northbridge (e.g. the new police station, sinking the railway line, fixing up the WA museum) receive funding. If we look at William Street and my office, it has started to be a safer and more residential place because of the investment that we made as a council in street works, underground power, more trees. I think it is a really strong part of my job now to make sure that the government delivers on projects that have begun and sees the wisdom of continuing those projects.

With Pride coming up, why is Northbridge the best place to be holding Fairday and the Parade?

I think it is really important that we do continue to have Fairday and the Pride Parade through here, not only because it is central but also because of the links to history. A lot of the law reform came out of the inner city where you had many real activists and artistic gay and lesbian people living.

Most cities have a soul that arises, you can’t plan a soul in a city. There is a lot of soul and heart in Northbridge and it is about people being able to get in with transport, it is about there being diversity in food, diversity in drink. All those things make Northbridge a natural gathering place.

Megan Smith