Title - Inside Out: Australian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered People Write About Their Lives  | Inside Out: Australian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered People Write About Their Lives
Shale, Erin
Anthology of coming out stories from both well known Australians andgeneral members of the community. Includes comedian Sue-Ann Post, singer Monique Brumby, Senator Bob Brown and rugby league player Ian Roberts.
| Price: $21.95
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ISBN: 9781863952651
Type: Pbk
Number of pages: 215pp
Publisher: Bookman
Date Of Publication: 199905
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| Review By: Crusader Hillis
There are 38 short testimonies in this book, most of them less than a few pages in length. Inside Out is one of the world’s first ‘coming out’ books that includes the stories of bisexual and transgendered people alongside those of gay men and lesbians. There is a refreshing mixing of ‘names’ alongside unknown contributors. The best-known personalities in the book are singers Monique Brumby, music trio The Bluehouse, Tiddas member and Greens candidate Charmaine Clarke, rugby player Ian Roberts, comedian Sue-Ann Post, Greens Senator Bob Brown and the Uniting Church minister Dorothy McRae-McMahon. There are also many ‘names’ from the queer world, including Democrats candidate and transgender activist Julie Peters, and Tasmanian political activist Rodney Croome. The placement of these people is an important aspect of the book’s success. Most people think that role models are necessary for young people, and many of the testimonies in this book will offer ways of dealing with difficulties that were not options for the writers themselves. The tone of their contributions differ significantly, but most of the celebrities opt for one of two ways to tell their coming out story: as deeply personal reminiscence or as stories with a wider or universal message. The ones that combine both styles, notably those by Bob Brown, Julie Peters and Sue-Ann Post, work the best. The story by Bob Brown of aversion ‘therapy’ in the 1970s during his university years in Sydney, of injections and humiliations at the hand of psychiatrists, haunts you long after you close the book; Julie Peters’ story of discovering the limitations of gender as a very young child and her journey to transcend those limitations is compelling and inspiring; and Sue-Ann Post manages to combine the personal and universal in a seamless and highly entertaining piece which ends with the following:
“I reckon half the problem with teen suicide is stupid adults saying, ‘Ah the teens. Best years of your life. Enjoy it while you can,’ because it is so completely and utterly wrong. Teen years suck man, really suck, and the 20s aren’t much better. But from 30 on, it gets bloody grouse. If I had to use just two words to sum up my ever-loving, queer-old, wise-arse life it would be: simply maaaaaaaaaaaaarvellous.”
The offerings from previously unpublished writers tend more towards personal reflections, but the styles of writing differ significantly. The pieces I enjoyed most are by Gina Lambrampoulos (‘Yes Mum, I’m a Poofter’) and Nülgen Güven (‘Turkish Delight’), because they work as strong pieces of writing as well as well-handled subject-matter. Many of the pieces in this book are not particularly well-written, a few whinge and complain, a tiny minority preach, and many tell of the most horrific experiences with a self-consciousness that betrays lingering traces of internalised homophobia. But I doubt that the uneven quality of the writing will be all that important to the reader. It will be the experiences offered and the manner in which they are rendered that will decide the reader’s enjoyment of this book.
Inside Out deserves to be read by a wide audience. It offers the opportunity for straight readers to look at the processes of integrating a homosexual, bisexual or transgender identity in a world where it can still bring shame and embarrassment to most families, and where 30% of youth suicide can be tied to sexuality and gender issues. For families, whether they have queer children or not, it is an important and wide-ranging look at how kids develop their self-concept, and then how they re-develop that concept as adults looking back. For gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, young or old, closeted or out, it is a chance to find commonalities with the experiences of others. It is definitely a book for the entire family.
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