Polly’s Club
The Pollys Club was formed in July 1964. The club started with six committee members one of whom was an islander known as Polly, hence the name Polly-nesian was adopted. The club had several social functions in ‘private’ halls or function rooms in Sydney’s inner west, and conducted its first large dance in November 1964 at Petersham Town Hall, where it remained for several years. These events featured a dance and drag show, a format that is still used today.
From their website:
During the 1970’s, 80’s and up to the late 90’s the club was mainly based at Coronation Hall Mascot, however other venues were used including Leichhardt Town Hall, the Round House at the University of N.S.W., and Sydney University.
The early 70’s saw the Pollys grow rapidly in both committee membership and the number of people attending functions. An executive committee was formalised including a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Ticket Secretary and Social Secretary. A constitution was developed and it was decided that the Polly-nesians were to be non-political, non-discriminatory, and open to both gay men and women. Our early executive committee and committee members represented a cross-section of the community with professionals and blue collar workers all being part of the group.
Remembering that homosexuality was still illegal during this time, the authorities seemed to turn a ‘blind eye’ to our activities which may have been assisted by a couple of the committee members being solicitors. All money raised by the club in those early days was donated to causes such as the Children’s Hospital at Camperdown, the R.S.P.C.A. and later the Animal Welfare League.
The late 70’s also saw the introduction of the club’s games and picnic day known as the Poly-lympics (one of the l’s was dropped on order to avoid having 3 l’s). The Poly-lympics were mostly held in Sydney’s south west and drew crowds of about two thousand. The day was popular with the gay community as it was a completely private event with security to keep out unwanted press. The events included sprinting races, handbag tossing and many other novelty type events. The last Poly-lympics was held at Erskineville Oval in 1997.
Even though non-political, many Polly-nesian committee members were known as The 78ers - being the people who demonstrated at Taylor Square in 1978 for the right to march, have a parade and for gay rights generally. From this demonstration the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was formed.
The AIDS epidemic arrived in Australia in the early 1980’s. Overnight the whole focus of the Pollys changed. Like many other social clubs, Pollys turned to raising funds for AIDS charities and became a major supporter to the E10 West Ward in the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital as well as the Royal Prince Henry Hospital. The Club also raised much needed funds for the newly formed Bobby Goldsmith Foundation (BGF) among other causes
The 80’s saw the introduction of harbour cruises, in particular, our very popular New Years Eve cruise. The frequency of our dances grew to every two months and these were split between Coronation Hall Mascot and Leichhardt Town Hall. Pollys also commenced functions in the Round House at the University of N.S.W.
In 1994, the club became incorporated and the name changed to "Polly's Club Inc". For the rest of the 1990’s Pollys remained at Coronation Hall Mascot.
In 2000, Pollys moved the dances to Marrickville Town Hall where they remain to this day. Popularity of the club waxed and waned during the 2000s and 2010s but in the last few years, we have experienced a resurgence in patronage with a number of recent dances being booked out.
