Dawn O'Donnell (born 1927/1928 – died 10 June 2007), was a prominent Sydney
entrepreneur and supporter of the Sydney LGBT community.
She has been credited with being a defining early influence on the gay and lesbian club scene in Sydney's
Oxford Street and
Newtown.
Early life
Born circa 1928 in the Sydney suburb of
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
, she won a bursary to St Vincent's College,
Potts Point
Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney.
Potts Po ...
, run by the
Sisters of Charity. She left school at age 15, and three years later, aged 18, won the Australian ladies speed skating championship, turned professional and taught at the Glaciarium before going to London and Paris. She was briefly married to a butcher named Des Irwin.
Her career began as an international
ice skater when she was a teenager. It was while touring Paris as a performer in the ''
Puss in Boots'' on ice show, she had her first romance with another woman.
[
]
Career
After her promising skating career was cut short by injury, O'Donnell ran a butcher shop in Double Bay
Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of ...
and a parking lot
A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...
in Ultimo, before opening her first gay bar, The Trolley Bar, off Broadway in 1968. Next she opened a gay bath-house (above a cake shop in Bondi Junction, New South Wales
Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Waverley.
Bondi Junction is a largely co ...
), followed in 1969 by Capriccio's, a gay night club on Oxford Street famous for its drag shows, which drew visiting celebrities from around the world.[
She recognised the gay and lesbian potential of Oxford Street. At this time, homosexual acts between men were still illegal in ]New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, and Dawn O'Donnell was known to pay bail to release gay men from police custody. Her gay and lesbian venues gave many "a place to come out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
".[ In 2001, O'Donnell recounted: ''"The most fascinating thing in the world for me was eventually to see the New South Wales Police Force have a gay public relations officer. I never thought to my dying day I'd ever see that."'']Abe Saffron
Abraham Gilbert Saffron (6 October 1919 – 15 September 2006) was an Australian hotelier, nightclub owner and property developer who was one of the major figures in organised crime in Australia in the latter half of the 20th century.
For sev ...
.[ The clubs attracted gays and lesbians from across Australia and around the world.]Erskineville
Erskineville is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Erskinevill ...
, transforming the Newtown area into a gay precinct to rival Oxford Street. The Imperial Hotel featured in the opening scenes of the movie, '' The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert''.
According to Graeme Browning (a.k.a. "Mitzi Macintosh"), who performed drag shows at O'Donnell-owned venues for 10 years, "she made the Sydney drag scene what it is, but our gay scene wouldn't be what it is without her either." Another drag performer, David Williams (aka "Beatrice") said that "she invented the idea of Oxford Street", helping to make Sydney one of the gay capitals of the world.[
]
Personal life and death
In 1977, aged 49, O'Donnell met her long-term partner, Dutch-born Aniek Baten, who was 26 years old. They later married, both wearing white for the wedding.[Dawn O'Donnell obituary](_blank)
wordpress.com, 16 June 2007; accessed 24 March 2014. Their relationship continued until O'Donnell's death from ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...
, aged 79, on Sunday, 10 June 2007. O'Donnell's funeral service was held at St Canice's Catholic Church in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Dawn
1920s births
2007 deaths
Australian people of Irish descent
Australian Roman Catholics
Deaths from cancer in New South Wales
Deaths from ovarian cancer
Australian LGBT rights activists
Businesspeople from Sydney
Date of birth missing
Impresarios
20th-century Australian businesspeople