Talks And Lectures

Phil Neil, a former Leading Aircraftman with the RAAF, was one of the five members of the Gay Ex-Services Association (GESA) who tried to unsuccessfully lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance on ANZAC Day in 1982. GESA formed after inflammatory and homophobic comments were made in the media about gay service people by then RSL president, Bruce Ruxton. On a cold and rainy 25th of April, 1982, Phil Neil, Mike Jarmyn, Terry Yates and two other gay ex-servicemen walked the steps of the Shrine to try and lay a wreath in the name of their “fallen gay and lesbian brothers and sisters”, who had always been a part of the Australian defence forces. On that day, they were turned away. After the passing in 2018 of GESA founding member Max Campbell, a former RAAF Warrant Officer, it was thought that there were no surviving members of the association. As luck would have it, Phil Neil was found alive and well living in regional Victoria during the making of ‘The Power of the Wreath’, one of the podcast episodes that acco