Perth's queer nightclub, Connections, celebrates 50 years of dancing and difference
Tim Brown has worked at Connections for almost 35 years. (ABC News: Emma Wynne)
Founded in 1975, when homosexuality was still illegal in Western Australia, Perth's Connections nightclub has seen waves of social change and kept the party going amid recessions and a pandemic.
Co-owner Tim Brown, who has worked at Connections for almost 35 years, said when the club first opened in Northbridge in 1975, it was an "incredible thing" for the LGBTQIA+ community.
"It wasn't the first place that people could go in Perth," Mr Brown said.
"There had been several others along the way, but they were even more underground and incredibly coded in how you got into them, how you had access into them, what you could do in them.
"Connections was always … flamboyant in its approach. It really was a chance for people to show out."
Huge social change
In 1975 in Western Australia, homosexuality was not only illegal for men, but it was also an enormous social taboo.
The front door of Connections in 1975, the year the club opened. (Supplied: Connections)
"You could lose your job, lose your family, lose a hell of a lot for even being out, let alone being seen in a gay venue," Mr Brown said.
"I started [working here] in '91, there was still a 'no cameras' policy in here, because people couldn't afford to have their photograph taken in Connections Nightclub, even if they weren't gay, because of what that might mean."
Homosexuality was decriminalised in WA in 1990, although the age of consent was set at 21. Equalisation of consent ages occurred in 2002.
In that setting, Connections became a place for people to escape and be themselves.
An undated photo of people dancing inside the club. (Supplied: Connections)
"Remember, 1975 was the peak of disco, a time when nightclubs really came into their own," Mr Brown said.
"People going out, getting dressed up, enjoying themselves in that sort of environment with a very hedonistic, free sort of vibe.
"If you then overlay that over a group of people who are oppressed day-to-day and you let them have a space where they can let loose and be free and be themselves, it's going to be pretty loose."
People dancing under disco balls. (Supplied: Connections)
Celebrating all kinds of difference
Mr Brown said Connections was not only a space that celebrated the queer community, but also a place that accommodated difference within the community, including age, gender and class.
"In Perth, being a small town, what happened was that the gays, the lesbians, the young, the old, all ended up in the same space together, which didn't really happen in larger cities," he said.
"[In bigger cities] the women would have their own nightclub, there would be a club for young people, there would be a club for all the subcultures that fit within our community.
"I think that's what marks Connections out as different from many nightclubs and many other places — it's rooted in that idea that everybody was together, that it celebrates difference, all sorts of difference.
"Over the years, the goths were here and the punks and all of that. It was a safe harbour for anybody who felt different.
"I think that's kind of baked into our DNA and something that was born out of necessity in the early days has actually ended up serving us very well into the present day."
An undated photo of Connections at Perth Pride. (Supplied: Connections)
People 'got the memo' in the 90s
Over time, Connections changed from a place that people feared being spotted at to one that attracted people from outside the queer community.
A lot of that happened in the 1990s in the wake of the AIDS crisis.
"The AIDS crisis galvanised us politically, but it also made us visible. We had to stand up and be counted because we were dying,"Mr Brown said.
"It was a very dramatic change in our world, but I think the good that came out of that was us standing up and being counted and the general population taking note and then actually realising these guys are really good fun and their venues are really good fun.
A DJ at Connections. (Supplied: Connections/Tobey Black)
"Furthermore, [the club] always had such a great reputation for music and a great reputation for being really good fun in a 'loose, let your hair down' sort of way.
"I think there was always an element of the non-gay community that recognised that about Connections and they were always welcome, I just think more people got the memo somewhere in the 90s."
Lasting 50 years
Connections has survived the ups and downs of Northbridge's popularity, the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple cost-of-living crises, and a tough environment for the hospitality sector.
It is hard to verify with absolute certainty, but Tim Brown suspects Connections is the longest-running queer club in the Southern Hemisphere.
The dancefloor at Connections Nightclub. (Supplied: Connections)
For any hospitality venue, 50 years is an extraordinary achievement.
"For any business to last 50 years is impressive, for a hospitality business it's amazing, but for a gay nightclub at the end of the earth it's quite incredible,"Mr Brown said.
"If you read international media, gay venues all over the world are closing down."
And in true Connections style, its 50th birthday party has been going on for months, culminating in a big finale on December 13, involving nine DJs and a cabaret throughout the night.
"We've done a whole series of different events. My favourite was a staff party for the 50 years of Connections staff, and nearly 300 people turned up," Mr Brown said.
"We had a glassie that had worked here on opening night and a manager that had been here in the 80s, it was quite marvellous to see all those layers of people together that was also a way in which we could actually have some conversation.
"Without doubt, the birthday party itself will probably be pretty manic … and I don't think we're going to get that much conversation."
An undated photo of a Pride celebration at Connections. (Supplied: Connections)
Mr Brown is not sure what the next 50 years will bring.
"I'm not quite sure why people keep asking me this question: it's like, can I go now?"
But he is optimistic that the spirit of Connections, or Connies as it is known to the locals, will go on.
"I think, particularly in this day and age where people are feeling so disconnected, there is something really tribal about being with a group of people and dancing together, having a night out and having a few drinks and laughing and meeting strangers … then we're doing something good," he said.
"If we can keep doing that, there's a good chance that this can keep going for another 50 years or more."