Before the 1970s, there were no trans organisations or publicly advertised gender clinics. But camp cultures brought together a variety of sexually- and gender-diverse people.
Carlotta entertaining in 2002.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Long before Drag Race, Carlotta was foundational in establishing a specifically Aussie mode of drag: outlandish, flamboyant, irreverent and ocker.
Bizarrely, a 2014 telemovie on the life of the transgender performer Carlotta featured Jessica Marais, pictured on the right with Anita Hegh, playing her.
ABC/idmb
A recent study found only two transgender characters appeared in TV dramas from 2011-2015. When will our television screens reflect a more diverse world?
Eamon Farren as Ava and Jessica Marais as Carlotta.
Photo by Simon Cardwell. ABC
In 2005 the road film Transamerica, directed by Duncan Tucker was released. It was a controversial film for its time simply for telling a trans story on the big screen. A complex transsexual character…