Michael Glynn - The Sydney Star Collection, circa 1979-1984

The collection

The Michael Glynn collection consists of LGBTIQA+ photographs, from the period 1979 to 1984. Some of the photographs appear to be a personal record of events, while others were published in The Sydney Star (1979-1982) and The Star (1982-1984). The newspapers were free and created for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Sydney.

Michael Glynn (1948-1996) first published an A5 sized guide to bars on 6 July 1979. It subsequently expanded and became a tabloid newspaper, titled The Sydney Star. In 1982 the paper changed its name to The Star. Produced fortnightly, The Star featured Mardi Gras parades, awards, fundraising events, protests, celebrations, parties, pub and nightclub culture. In 1984, Glynn sold the paper to a consortium who operated it under the company Seruse Pty Ltd. The name changed to The Sydney Star Observer.

The donation

The City of Sydney received the Michael Glynn photographs as part of a larger donation of Sydney Star Observer photographs from SSO Media in 2011. They form part of the estate of Michael Glynn and, with the permission of the executor of the estate, have been retained and shared by the City Archives. It is assumed that most of the photographs were taken by Michael Glynn, however this cannot be guaranteed, and he features in some photographs. 

The photographs were stored in envelopes with little descriptive information. Archives volunteers have recorded what was available. Many photographs are undated so a range of 1979-1984 have been applied. Some later photographs have been mixed up with this collection and will be re-dated over time. 

Some information has been crowd sourced from photographers or the LGBTIQA+ community. The City of Sydney welcomes additional information such as dates, places, names and events. Once logged in and you find a photograph item, you can select the suggested edits function on the TOOLS menu.

The photographs are copyright. For permission to use and access to the high-resolution images please contact the City Archives.

Only selected photographs have been digitised and released by the City Archives. For further information please contact the City Archives. 

See Sydney Star Observer stock photographs for later images.