Queer Lives in State Archives

In some ways it seems strange to look to the records of the state for intimate details of lives lived against the grain. They seem to be the last place we would find people’s own understandings of their sexuality and relationships – but New Zealand’s state archives provide us with a mass of details and startling revelations, generated at the point where private worlds collide with public institutions.

This lecture explores what US historian Jennifer Terry calls the ‘deviant subjectivities’ of women and men, by drawing on divorce files, court files, and the records of male homosexual offenders sent to New Plymouth Pr*son between 1917 and 1952. Stories of meaning, identity and desire emerged in New Zealand alongside the legal processes that have constrained and shaped them.

Chris Brickell is Professor in the Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology Programme at University of Otago. His books on the history of sexuality include Mates and Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand and James Courage Diaries. He is currently working on the diaries of playwright Robert Lord and the homosexual history of New Plymouth Pr*son.

Where: Old Government House, Lecture theatre G36, 24 Princes Street, Auckland

Drinks & nibbles will be served in the Old Government House Members Lounge following the lecture.

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Host or Publisher Faculty of Arts, The University of Auckland