Roy Gardnerra's video: Number 96 HD and color 1972

With Number 96, Australia brought queer people to TV decades before anyone else Once upon a time Australian TV led the world in shattering LGBT taboos – with the world’s first regular gay character in 1972, followed by a trans character and gay kiss During last month’s 50th anniversary celebration of the Stonewall riots, many historians looked at how the modern gay rights movement influenced pop culture. We learned about music, books and cinema which reflected societal progress – but nothing brought LGBT representation into lounge rooms better than television did. And no country was quicker to do it than Australia, through 1970s series that presented the world’s first gay character, trans character and gay kiss. Why then, does Australia never get credit for these world first milestones? America’s first gay kiss didn’t happen until 1991 on LA Law. Ellen then came out on her self-titled sitcom in 1997, and the following year Will and Grace became a huge hit. Over in the UK, they are so proud of Anna Friel’s gay kiss on Brookside in 1994, it was replayed for the whole world during London’s Olympics Opening Ceremony. Other key moments include Coronation Street’s first trans character Hayley (played by cis actress Julie Hesmondhalgh), and 2000s game-changing series Queer As Folk – also remade by the US. Australian TV, however, had shown all of those things first, and more than two decades before the rest of the world. It all started in 1972 when the country, in the midst of its sexual revolution, got hooked on a new prime-time serial called Number 96, which was launched with the infamous tagline: “Tonight, Australian TV loses its virginity.” Justice Michael Kirby has said Joe Hasham’s portrayal of gay man Don Finlayson in Number 96 ‘did more for the acceptance of sexual minorities in Australia’ than most anything before it’. Photograph: YouTube David Sale, the creator of Number 96, remembers talking about a gay character with producer Bill Harmon who said, “Sure, but give me homosexuality without any deviation.” That led to the groundbreaking character of law student Don Finlayson (Joe Hasham). The Hon Justice Michael Kirby, who was a law student himself back then, watched the “amazing, challenging” series from night one. “The gay character was not ashamed of himself, he was talented,” writes the former high court judge in his foreword to David Sale’s autobiography Number 96, Mavis and Me. “Everyone in the apartment block looked to him for wisdom, calm and leadership. I have always thought this presentation of a gay hero to a mass audience did more for the acceptance of sexual minorities in Australia than all the solemn speeches of judges and professors or the worthy talk programs on the ABC.” Number 96 didn’t stop there with the world firsts: in 1973, Robyn Ross (Carolle Lea) revealed that she was “not really a girl”, thereby making her the first trans character on television. She was portrayed by a real transgender person, legendary Sydney showgirl Carlotta, who had been asked to provide a fake name to keep her identity and the shock storyline a secret. Later that year, Marie Crowther (played by Gold Logie winner Hazel Phillips) outed herself as a lesbian after being caught caught peeping on Vera (Elaine Lee) in the shower. Although brief, she is probably TV’s first lesbian (but sadly, many of these early episodes have not survived). The sex, nudity and gay situations on Number 96 and The Box made both Aussie shows too explicit to be aired in other countries, so it is no surprise that most historians are unaware of their impact. But they could at least acknowledge Prisoner’s Franky Doyle (Carol Burns) from 1979, a show which was seen repeatedly all over the world and was particularly popular in the US and UK. (Source www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/15/number-96-to-the-box-when-it-comes-to-sexuality-australian-tv-showed-it-all-well-before-anywhere-else)