TED KELK, AN HONORABLE AND INSIGHTFUL MAN
Ted Kelk (b.1927 d.1991) was a strong, passionate and articulate gay man, doggedly directing public attention to the terrible injustice the laws of Queensland imposed on gays, determined thereby to achieve law reform, and as a man of courage, determination and vision, he indeed became the catalyst for gay law reform in Queensland;
Queensland born, and brought up on the family farm near Nambour, Ted entered teachers’ training college at only 16, then taught at Dajarra, a little country school near Cloncurry. A brilliant scholar, fluent in six languages with a smattering of several others, his love of travel and appreciation of other cultures definitely contributed to his linguistic proficiency. During the post war years, a passionate young Ted participated in protests, including the Ban the Bomb campaign, and he defied the authorities to participate in prohibited May Day processions resulting in the occasional fracas with the police. In those days the Queensland government regarded any protest as the result of communist agitation and portrayed protesters as traitors, taking punitive measures against anyone they could identify as involved. Feeling his activism had damaged his career advancement, Ted became less passionate, less outspoken, more cautious, perhaps even overly cautious. He stopped espousing controversial causes, and he maintained a complete silence on the matter of his sexuality. In January 1963, the Education Department transferred Ted to Parramatta State School in Cairns and he worked there for 23 years, in 1971 appointed the first Teacher / Teacher Librarian in North Queensland. Shortly after his arrival in Cairns, Ted joined the Cairns Little Theatre and became a respected and valuable member, participating on and off the stage - at one production he 'd be the bloke serving you coffee in the canteen, and at the next, the star performer, in plays like: Bell, Book and Candle, Roar like a Dove, A Man of All Seasons, Gaslight and The Man Who Came To Dinner. Ted enjoyed some long term relationships over the years but remained very discreet, an intensely private man, his penchant for ignoring other gay people in public, much remarked upon. Even when he worried he might be HIV positive he never gave up that discretion, knowing that if his name appeared on a Queensland Department of Health Infectious Disease register it would affect his employment. In January 1986 he travelled to Sydney for the test, following in the footsteps of thousands of Queenlanders, justifiably concerned of the consequences of a positive test in their home state, where politicians of the ruling party still advocated locking up homosexuals to protect the health of the general public. Ted returned a positive test for AIDS, at the time, a death sentence. Ted knew his time was limited and his passion returned. Everything changed. In June he celebrated 40 years with the Department of Education by retiring, and Ted Kelk, free from the need to stay compliantly quiet in the face of Queensland’s authoritarian government, smashed down the closet doors. Writing to a friend a few months later he said, “After all those long years of silence, you can imagine, perhaps, …show more content…
Ted moved to Brisbane to join the action in those crucial days of law reform but sadly his health deteriorated in 1990. Instead of lobbying he spent the next three months shuffling back and forth from doctor, to specialist, to hospital but, at the same time his previous efforts bore fruit, and during those months the gay law reform movement suddenly came of age.
Proud of the Brisbane Branch and its leadership, Ted exulted that a campaign with a mere twelve months experience could work so effectively, able already to rely on the support and expertise of hundreds of organisations and individuals – ALP politicians, barristers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, civil and human rights organisations, clergy, academics etc.
The Association for Gay Law Reform in Queensland aimed for complete equality before the law for homosexual and heterosexual citizens. Many thought Ted expected too much, too soon, but the organisation enjoyed the support of human and civil rights groups, in Queensland and across Australia, and in 1990 the Queensland Government voted to decriminalise consenting adult homosexual …show more content…
Ted Kelk (b.1927 d.1991) was a strong, passionate and articulate gay man, doggedly directing public attention to the terrible injustice the laws of Queensland imposed on gays, determined thereby to achieve law reform, and as a man of courage, determination and vision, he indeed became the catalyst for gay law reform in Queensland;
Queensland born, and brought up on the family farm near Nambour, Ted entered teachers’ training college at only 16, then taught at Dajarra, a little country school near Cloncurry. A brilliant scholar, fluent in six languages with a smattering of several others, his love of travel and appreciation of other cultures definitely contributed to his linguistic proficiency. During the post war years, a passionate young Ted participated in protests, including the Ban the Bomb campaign, and he defied the authorities to participate in prohibited May Day processions resulting in the occasional fracas with the police. In those days the Queensland government regarded any protest as the result of communist agitation and portrayed protesters as traitors, taking punitive measures against anyone they could identify as involved. Feeling his activism had damaged his career advancement, Ted became less passionate, less outspoken, more cautious, perhaps even overly cautious. He stopped espousing controversial causes, and he maintained a complete silence on the matter of his sexuality. In January 1963, the Education Department transferred Ted to Parramatta State School in Cairns and he worked there for 23 years, in 1971 appointed the first Teacher / Teacher Librarian in North Queensland. Shortly after his arrival in Cairns, Ted joined the Cairns Little Theatre and became a respected and valuable member, participating on and off the stage - at one production he 'd be the bloke serving you coffee in the canteen, and at the next, the star performer, in plays like: Bell, Book and Candle, Roar like a Dove, A Man of All Seasons, Gaslight and The Man Who Came To Dinner. Ted enjoyed some long term relationships over the years but remained very discreet, an intensely private man, his penchant for ignoring other gay people in public, much remarked upon. Even when he worried he might be HIV positive he never gave up that discretion, knowing that if his name appeared on a Queensland Department of Health Infectious Disease register it would affect his employment. In January 1986 he travelled to Sydney for the test, following in the footsteps of thousands of Queenlanders, justifiably concerned of the consequences of a positive test in their home state, where politicians of the ruling party still advocated locking up homosexuals to protect the health of the general public. Ted returned a positive test for AIDS, at the time, a death sentence. Ted knew his time was limited and his passion returned. Everything changed. In June he celebrated 40 years with the Department of Education by retiring, and Ted Kelk, free from the need to stay compliantly quiet in the face of Queensland’s authoritarian government, smashed down the closet doors. Writing to a friend a few months later he said, “After all those long years of silence, you can imagine, perhaps, …show more content…
Ted moved to Brisbane to join the action in those crucial days of law reform but sadly his health deteriorated in 1990. Instead of lobbying he spent the next three months shuffling back and forth from doctor, to specialist, to hospital but, at the same time his previous efforts bore fruit, and during those months the gay law reform movement suddenly came of age.
Proud of the Brisbane Branch and its leadership, Ted exulted that a campaign with a mere twelve months experience could work so effectively, able already to rely on the support and expertise of hundreds of organisations and individuals – ALP politicians, barristers, doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, civil and human rights organisations, clergy, academics etc.
The Association for Gay Law Reform in Queensland aimed for complete equality before the law for homosexual and heterosexual citizens. Many thought Ted expected too much, too soon, but the organisation enjoyed the support of human and civil rights groups, in Queensland and across Australia, and in 1990 the Queensland Government voted to decriminalise consenting adult homosexual …show more content…