Louise Smith

6 years ago · 1 min. reading time · 0 ·

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Not A "Did You Hear About the 2 Men Who Walked into a Bar Story..."​

Not A "Did You Hear About the 2 Men Who Walked into a Bar Story..."​

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This picture is taken in 1965 in the public bar of Brisbane’s iconic Regatta Hotel. This is one of the two main pubs that I went to as a student at University of Queensland. At the end of a semester or after graduation, it is packed with celebrating students.

A clever protest, shocking in its time, immortalised Merle and Rosalie’s brave ingenuity.

They stood their ground not because they particularly wanted to have a beer in the public bar.
For Merle and Rosalie it was never about alcohol consumption!

It was about women being excluded from participating in public and social life. It was about women being stopped from joining in.

The protest and the publicity led to the formation of the Brisbane (Australia) activist group Equal Opportunities for Women. It is widely credited for its part in overturning the so-called “marriage bar’’ within the Commonwealth Public Service.

It seems unthinkable now, but at that time women in the public service were required to resign when they got married. Then when that was resolved, they still had to resign when they had a baby!

I worked with women this age and their Superannuation was badly affected.

Women could not get a loan from a bank. In the 1980’s a good friend in stable government employment had to ask her father to get a loan for her for her first car! The bank refused her!

If wasn’t for women like Merle and Rosalie and the people who supported them,
things may not have changed.

I really admire these 2 women and am grateful to them for the social change they instigated. I have benefited in many ways not just financially.

In today’s world, I like to be thought of as a person first. 

Thanks to them this sometimes actually happens.

 Louise Smith

P.S. What are your stories?


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Comments

Louise Smith

6 years ago #2

#3
Ahhhh ! But now Ireland is one of the most progressive nations in the world as the first to legitimise Gay Marriage in the world and by popular vote! Not bad for a high Catholic population ! I really admire that. Aussie Pollies here have turned it into a circus ! Around 60 - 70% support from general pop and 80% from young people 18 - 24y. 75% think it's inevitable http://www.australianmarriageequality.org/get-informed/quick-facts/

Louise Smith

6 years ago #1

#1
Thank you Don ! “In Ireland under the marriage bar”, which was abolished in 1973, women working in the public and Civil Service had to resign their job as soon as they married. Many of these women lost their cover under the social welfare system when they left work, and either did not qualify for a State pension when they retired, or only qualified for a smaller State pension." Australia's ban was in 1966. That's amazing in Ireland was 1973 !

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