ABSTRACT
In January 2014, in response to a public campaign, it was reported in the news media that the Victorian Government would introduce legislation to remove from individuals’ records convictions they had received relating to consensual sex between men.1 This move acknowledges the anachronism and injustice of such ongoing penalisation given the decriminalisation of male homosexual sex in 1980. As an instance of historical revisitation and an effort towards historical correction, such a move might encourage us to reflect on other prospective measures owed to this past. This article situates itself in this spirit and moment of critical retrospection. This article offers a reflection on my own queer research on historical homophobia
within educational practice and administration as an effort to consider how we might promote dialogue around the queer past of schooling. Along the way, it provides some discussion of the significance of archival knowledge in helping us to develop an understanding of the past while also providing resources for making sense of the contemporary moment. To develop my argument, I illustrate some examples of historical homophobia, through a brief discussion of some education administration practices in Victoria and New South Wales, while also raising some questions about the Australian Association for Research in Education and historical homosexuality. I then move on to
