Val Eastwood at Val's Coffee Lounge, c 1950s, gelatin silver photograph, Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives

Melbourne in the 1950s could be a rather dour affair but it was also a site for vibrant underground cultures. This was particularly the case for gay and lesbian, or ‘camp’, culture, as it was known at the time. Due to their illegal status, homosexual men and women developed alternative bohemian cultures and communities with their own covert venues, house parties, secret languages and dress codes. Restaurants such as Val’s Coffee Lounge, presided over by its gregarious and stylish founder Val Eastwood, were rare meeting places for those who didn’t fit the mould – not just the camp crowd but actors, activists, artists and dancers.