Brent Coutts: Crossing the Lines: A new history of New Zealand soldiers in WWII

Brent Coutts discussed the previously untold history of homosexual soldiers in World War II, drawing on the experience of Harold Robinson, Ralph Dyer and Douglas Morison, who were female impersonators in the Tui and Pacific Kiwi Concert Parties. From the men’s formative pre-war lives, through the difficult war years to their experiences in a post-war London, Coutts presented a story of strong friendships, a shared queer identity and love of performance, along with the search for love and belonging as homosexuals within both the civilian and military worlds.

A University of Otago graduate living in Auckland, Brent is the author of Protest in New Zealand (2013), Re-Reading the Rainbow (2017) and Pacific History (2018).