William Yang: “I love a Sydney that likes to party. Not that I’m such a party tragic myself, but parties are usually a rich field to photograph.” 

My Sydney Story: 

On the 15th November 2017 I gathered with a crowd of people at Prince Alfred Park to hear the result of the same-sex marriage plebiscite. People were optimistic but the result was not guaranteed. The stage was full of high profile gay people including Alex Greenwich, Ian Thorpe, Kerryn Phelps and her wife Jackie Stricker, lesbian couple Virginia Flitcroft and Christine Forster, Irish activist Tiernan Brady, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (who donated a million dollars of his own money to the cause), not to mention Magda Szubanski whose pitch perfect TV appearances became the voice of the movement.

Then came the announcement. YES 61.6% NO 38.4%. Within seconds of the announcement finishing, the producers of the event pushed the real John Paul Young on stage and he began to sing “Love is in the Air” over the loudspeakers. People started dancing, someone in the crowd brandished a sign, “That’s Mrs Dyke to You.” We had won. 

I remembered all those demonstrations in the 70s and the 80s where we tried and eventually succeeded in decriminalising homosexuality. But they were political victories rather than public opinion victories. I think that continued activism, the profile afforded by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and a personal visibility in our daily lives has brought about social change. It takes a long time, it’s [more than] 50 years since Stonewall, and it has happened in my lifetime. 

This makes me happy.

I came to Sydney from Queensland in 1969 and I have enjoyed living here. I have my own unit, my work, a diverse social life and my friends, so I call Sydney home. 

— William Yang 

See William Yang: Milestone at Sydney Festival this month.