Tilley's Devine Café Gallery is a well-known café in the suburb of Lyneham in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, Australia. It was named after Matilda 'Tilly' Devine, an English Australian gangster and madame from Sydney. When the café first opened in 1984, it was intended as a women's space, with men allowed entry only when accompanied by women. Popular with lesbian women, it quickly became an icon of Canberra's

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

scene. Attempts to restrict or limit entry of men brought challenges, most notably by a group of cadets from the

Royal Military College, Duntroon The Royal Military College, Duntroon, also known simply as Duntroon, is the Australian Army's Officer (armed forces), officer training establishment. It was founded at Duntroon, Australian Capital Territory, Duntroon in Canberra, Australian Capi ...

who attempted to force their way in, instigating a brawl. The policy was maintained for two years. Tilley's originally had seating for 60, but subsequently expanded five times, and now has large indoor and outdoor eating areas. It was once a popular space for night time concerts by local musicians, hosting names such as Wayne Kelly, Mia Dyson,

Frente! Frente! (or Frente) is an Australian folk- pop and indie pop group which originally formed in 1989. The original line-up consisted of Simon Austin on guitar and backing vocals, Angie Hart on lead vocals, Tim O'Connor on bass guitar (later repl ...

, and Clare Bowditch. In 2005 concerts were scaled back in order to expand the more financially viable restaurant and café. According to ACT historian Roslyn Russell, it was the first licensed outdoor venue in Australia, and the first Australian bar to ban

smoking Smoking is a practice in which a substance is combusted, and the resulting smoke is typically inhaled to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream of a person. Most commonly, the substance used is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant, whi ...

indoors.

References

Restaurants in Canberra Buildings and structures in Canberra LGBTQ culture in Australia Coffeehouses and cafés in Australia Lesbian culture in Australia {{canberra-stub

See also

References