David McDiarmid wearing an outfit by Linda Jackson and standing in front of his painting Hand and Heart. Image copyright, and used with consent of, Sally Gray/David McDiarmid Estate.

David McDiarmid (1952-95) was a queer Australian activist and artist whose work reflects the Australian queer community’s experiences at the end of the 20th century.

He was active in both the Melbourne and Sydney Gay Liberation movements in the early 70s. In 1972 he became the first person to be arrested at an Australian gay rights protest following a picket of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s offices in Sydney.

His first one-person show, Secret Love, was presented in Sydney in 1976.The title itself – drawn from the old Doris Day song – says much, since this was a time when Australian gay men were still being jailed for the ‘crime’ of consensual sex.

But, reflecting the spirit of the Gay Liberation movement – and further exploring the song’s lyrics – one of the works declares, “My secret love’s no secret anymore.”

Two years later he participated in the first Australian exhibition of out queer artists, Homosexual and Lesbian Artists, held in association with the Fourth National Homosexual Conference in Sydney.

Some of David McDiarmid’s work on display at ‘When This You See, Remember Me’, National Gallery of Victoria, 2014. Image copyright, and used with consent of, Marcus Bunyan.

In between these two exhibitions he travelled around the USA, spending significant amounts of time in the New York and San Franciscan gay communities. Like many gay men, he was attracted to and influenced by the emerging queer sensibility in that country.

His 1978 exhibition Trade Enquiries, drew heavily on the masculine images embraced by some American gay men and included clones, cowboys and lumberjacks. His 1979 works Disco Kwilts were inspired by New York’s black and Hispanic gay club Paradise Garage.