Gay Lib sub-groups and consciousness-raising groups would also hold meetings at different places around Melbourne, usually centred in the inner-Northern suburbs of Carlton and Fitzroy close to Melbourne University, and often taking place in shared houses.

By 1975 the Gay Liberation Centre had moved to the floor above Chris Sanders' pottery studio at 259 Brunswick Street Fitzroy.

Gay Lib sub-groups and consciousness-raising groups would also hold meetings at different places around Melbourne, usually centred in the inner-Northern suburbs of Carlton and Fitzroy close to Melbourne University, and often taking place in shared houses.

Consciousness Raising Groups

Described in a Gay Lib flyer as "the guts, the heart and soul of the movement," small consciousness raising or CR groups gathered on a regular basis to "explore the meaning of their lives; their experiences, their oppression."

CR groups provided many with an experience that was unusual up until that point: the freedom to talk about one's homosexual feelings and experiences with other homosexuals. Peter McEwan recalls his experience of the CR groups:

Several groups of around eight formed. Each group had a mix of men and women. We would meet in each others’ homes every week or two. We shared our understandings of the latest manifestos, but most of all we shared our own intimate feelings about our sexuality and about the impacts of sexism on all of us. A fundamental tenet of Gay Lib was “The personal is political”; so at these groups we worked on ourselves.

These CR groups initially met at the Student Union or in people’s homes, and later at the Gay Liberation Centre, but following the success of the Sydney Gay Liberation weekend retreats, Melbourne Gay Liberation initiated a series of weekends at Blackwood, north-west of Melbourne.

Freedom to be Who You Were

The liberating space of consciousness raising groups often highlighted the alienation that many, particularly younger gay men and women, felt from society in general and the existing camp culture.

John Langworthy recalls:

I grew up in an era when there was no public space for gays anywhere. Most gay people were consumed with self-doubt, censorship was widespread so there were very few references to it anywhere in public, there were horrible stereotypes about what gay people were and what they were about. A lot of gay people from that era ended up with a lot of self-hatred, self-loathing.

The freedom just to talk about one's homosexual feelings and experiences was not something that many gay people had had until this point. Even today many circles of friends trace their origins to consciousness raising groups and the bonds formed within them, and activists still speak fondly and enthusiastically of their time in consciousness-raising. In the end, though, it was said, if CR groups were really to be understood, they had to be experienced rather than talked about.