Dawn O'Donnell
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Dawn O'Donnell | |
---|---|
Born | c.1927/1928 Paddington, New South Wales, Australia |
Died | 10 June 2007 (aged 79) |
Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, activist |
Dawn O'Donnell (born 1927/1928 – died 10 June 2007), was a prominent Sydney
Early life
Born circa 1928 in the Sydney suburb of
Career
After her promising skating career was cut short by injury, O'Donnell ran a butcher shop in
She recognised the gay and lesbian potential of Oxford Street. At this time, homosexual acts between men were still illegal in New South Wales, and Dawn O'Donnell was known to pay bail to release gay men from police custody. Her gay and lesbian venues gave many "a place to come out".[1] In 2001, O'Donnell recounted: "The most fascinating thing in the world for me was eventually to see the New South Wales Police Force have a gay public relations officer. I never thought to my dying day I'd ever see that."[4]
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, O'Donnell controlled a string of lesbian and gay venues in East Sydney, including:
- Jools on Crown Street
- Patchs nightclub on Oxford Street
- Flo's Palace
- The Exchange Hotel
- Ruby Reds on Crown Street (Sydney's first lesbian bar)
Some of these ventures were run in partnership with the late French restaurateur Roger Claude Teyssedre and controversial Sydney businessman Abe Saffron.[2] The clubs attracted gays and lesbians from across Australia and around the world.[5]
During the 1980s, O'Donnell began to shift her focus from Oxford Street to the inner-west suburb of
According to Graeme Browning (a.k.a. "Mitzi Macintosh"), who performed drag shows at O'Donnell-owned venues for 10 years, "she made the Sydney drag scene what it is, but our gay scene wouldn't be what it is without her either." Another drag performer, David Williams (aka "Beatrice") said that "she invented the idea of Oxford Street", helping to make Sydney one of the gay capitals of the world.[1]
Personal life and death
In 1977, aged 49, O'Donnell met her long-term partner,
References
- ^ a b c "Gay Sydney says goodbye to one who made it so". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 June 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.
- ^ a b c d "Obituaries: A leading lady of Sydney's gay club scene". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2007.
- ^ a b Dawn O'Donnell obituary, wordpress.com, 16 June 2007; accessed 24 March 2014.
- ^ "Exhibition reveals a century of gay life". ABC News 'Lateline'. 23 February 2001. Retrieved 16 June 2007.
- ^ "Mother of gay Sydney dies at 79". The Australian. 12 June 2007. Archived from the original on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007.