The Life and Death of a Gay Male Nun (Working Title)

This story is intertwined with a broader history of the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and 80s – the struggles experienced by an older generation who fought for queer people to have the rights that today we take as a given. It’s extremely important that younger queer people know this history: an understanding of the methods used by our trailblazing forebearers can give contemporary activists inspiration to how we approach protest today, how to use parody, and how we can maintain these rights.

The Sisters extol the value of spreading joy and absolving people of guilt. In a world that’s becoming increasingly divided, with homophobia still rife in Australia, this service is clearly still needed to this day. The Life and Death of a Gay Male Nun will hopefully inspire a younger audience to be as fearless in their self-expression as the Sisters have been, and help an older person know that their legacy is valued.

Our intention with this documentary is to pay homage to a group that played a pivotal role in advancing the gay liberation movement in Australia and encouraged countless people to express themselves fearlessly. Many parallels can be made between the fight for gay liberation in the 1980s and queer activism today, especially with the recent backlash against the “trans agenda.” We need to make sure that their legacy is preserved for future generations to learn from: it’s important to commemorate the past in order to not repeat it.

Although their tangible impact on politics was small, we believe that what the Sisters have contributed to society is significant. They encourage marginalised people to be unashamed in personal expression, they were innovative and humorous in their approach to activism, and although they generated controversy, they always approached conflict with kindness and an open ear.

In an increasingly politically polarised world, we think this compassionate approach is sorely lacking and we hope that young activists can learn from these principles. It may be an unrealistic goal to get a homophobic person to watch this film and challenge their own beliefs, but hopefully we can encourage queer activists to think about the way they communicate with their ideological opponents, and approach them with the empathetic style of communication that the Sisters are known for.

The director of this documentary, Alfie Faber, has over the past several years joined the OPI himself, and is now a Novice Sister.

Our film is less about a direct call to action and more self-reflective, encouraging our audience to think about the influence of their queer fore-bearers and how they can approach activism in the future. Although we won’t include in the film direct, didactic calls to action, our impact campaign would encourage a younger audience to go talk to and learn from an older queer person, as well as to get out of their echo chamber and have an empathetic, respectful conversation to challenge someone with homophobic beliefs.