Fill-in Queer View Mirror host Kirby listens to excerpts from comics artist, journalist and unionist Sam Wallman's lecture Pink and Green Bans. The lecture was presented at the National Library of Australia on November 30th 2023 at the end of Sam’s month-long Creative Arts Fellowship. You can watch the whole lecture on Youtube. In it, Sam explores his research into the Green Bans (a series of strike actions conducted in support of conservational, environmental and social issues) and the Pink Bans (1970s industrial actions carried out by unionist construction workers in defence of persecuted LGBTIQA+ people, including Jeremy Fisher).

Sam draws on his extensive research, including from the National Library of Australia collection and his own interviews. Some of the publicly-available resources include: Pat Fiske’s documentary Rocking The Foundations, Meredith and Verity Burgmann’s book Green Bans Red Union and Jack Mundey’s book Green Bans & Beyond.

You can find more about Sam's work at his website. His previous comics about the history of unionism and work stoppages include What became of the right to strike and How a persecuted union movement fought back both published by Overland.

Many thanks to Sam, and the National Library of Australia team, for giving Triple R permission to broadcast parts of this talk. Pink and Green Bans is avaialable in full on Youtube, and Sam's large-scale banner and book about the pink bans is forthcoming.

Image credit: Sam Wallman, @ourmembersbeunlimited on Instagram