Newcastle, a port-side regional center in New South Wales, is known for its coal mines and beaches, but for queer people living in the city during the 1950s, it was a place of fear and persecution. Meeting in secret and under the constant threat of arrest, they had to navigate a society that was hostile to their very existence.
John Witte, a historian and volunteer with the Hunter Rainbow History Group, has been collecting and recording the experiences of LGBTQ+ people living in the Hunter region for over two decades. He is on a mission to “preserve and illuminate” their “hidden histories,” including the story of the Yellow Socks Gang, a group of gay men who were arrested in the early 1950s in Newcastle.
The Yellow Socks Gang was a group of men who were charged with “abominable offenses,” and their names were published in the local newspaper. The incident centered on Keith Robinson, a well-known businessman in Newcastle, and his alleged involvement with the gang. His popular menswear store on Hunter Street allegedly gave the group their name because of the color of the display.
The Yellow Socks Affair is a stark reminder of the recent past and the challenges still faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Australia. Post-war homophobia led to a “clamp-down” on homosexuality, making it a perfect ammunition for an ideological war that started in Newcastle and extended to Sydney. Witte said that people only trusted their closest circle, and just the fact that trust broke down in Newcastle was astounding.
The past informs the present, and this is why the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crime deaths is investigating unsolved and suspected cases between 1970 and 2010. Dr. Justin Ellis, a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Newcastle, believes that stories like the Yellow Socks Affair are imperative to highlight. At least five cases in the Newcastle area are being examined by the commission.
Despite the passing of decades, encouraging people to share their story could still be difficult. Witte said that it’s a personal thing, and it’s also a small town, people know each other. But he persists in his charter to record oral histories because it provides bureaucrats and politicians with a justification to move the discussion forward. The Royal Commission into Human Relationships in the mid-70s was a catalyst for law reform, and he hopes that the Special Commission of Inquiry will have the same effect.
The Yellow Socks Affair may have been a misnomer, but it represents a significant moment in the history of the LGBTQ+ community in Newcastle. It is through the tireless work of historians like Witte and the Hunter Rainbow History Group that their hidden histories are being preserved and illuminated, paving the way for a more just and equitable future for all Australians.
