Yorick Smaal

Histories of sex crime generally ignore boys. We know very little about how individuals and institutions classified particular boys and particular behaviours, and what ideas informed this practice. Structured around the concept of knowledge, this book untangles complex and contradictory ideas around age, class, sexuality and ethnicity, to show how these discourses shaped the prosecution and protection of boys in England and Australia between 1870 and 1930. Taking readers into the industrial heart of West Yorkshire and the wilds of the Queensland frontier, and into the courtrooms, boys’ clubs, reformatories, and schools and factories of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this book asks what ordinary people, professionals and the state knew about boys, sex and crime, and what they did about it. More than an account of judicial policy and practice, it provides a rich social history of boys, sexuality and crime to think about who and what has invoked, or avoided, the attention of the criminal law, at what times, and for what reasons. This book makes a contribution to compelling contemporary debates about child sexual abuse, exploring a timely question of interest to historians, legal theorists, and professionals. It historicises current discussions around youth sexuality, and sexual abuse, questions preconceptions and challenges stereotypes, and introduces new themes into the historiography.

Sex, Soldiers and the South Pacific, 1939-45 explores the queer dynamics of war across Australia and forward bases in the south seas. It examines relationships involving Allied servicemen, civilians and between the legal and medical fraternities that sought to regulate and contain expressions of homosex in and out of the forces.

Sex, Soldiers and the South Pacific, 1939-45 explores the queer dynamics of war across Australia and forward bases in the south seas. It examines relationships involving Allied servicemen, civilians and between the legal and medical fraternities that sought to regulate and contain expressions of homosex in and out of the forces.

In this, the latest in the Gay and Lesbian Perspectives series, researchers explore the rich history of queer Australasia, uncovering photographic records of small-town male intimacy, cases of police entrapment, the mysterious suicide pact of Charles Marks and Edward Feeny, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization's attempts to grapple with "persons with serious character defects," and previously unexamined political and cultural expressions of gay/lesbian/queer activism over the last four decades. The result is an original and important contribution to understanding a history that is all too often shrouded in secrecy. (Series: Gay and Lesbian Perspectives - Vol. 7) *** ..". this book] offers an intelligent and attractive perspective on homosexualities 'down under' that engages the local and the specific. No broad and vague concepts of 'queer', but rather factual and valuable articles that offer something to learn and to think about." -- Australian Historical Studies, 45, 2014 'Intimacy, Violence, and Activism is an excellent book, especially for those seeking to compare Australasian Gay and Lesbian history with that of their own nation. For non-academic readers, this book is a superb start to understanding key aspects of Australasian history of the gay and lesbian movements.' From Committee on LGBT History, Spring 2015 Vol. 28:2/Vol. 29:1 ? ? ? ?