History
CAAH began in 1999 with a group of students already active within the Sydney queer student movement. At a time when student dissent against aggressive government policies was reaching a fruition across the country, the queer movement was no exception, and groups like the Cross Campus Sexuality Network (CCSN) were already active in New South Wales. However it was felt that these groups were not properly engaging with the broader community and so an offshoot was created which combined a more radical political message with an intent to galvanise the broader community around issues of liberation and representation.
In 1999 Collective Action Against Homophobia was formed to protest against a Catholic anti-gay organisation known as Courage, which preached a message that homosexuality was a disease that needed to be cured. Activists managed to have that meeting shut down and the organisation removed from university campus. The collective was then disbanded.
In 2000 a new group taking inspiration from the defunct Collective Action Against Homophobia formed Community Action Against Homophbia, taking the democratic principles and practices of the previous group and broadening the scope to include general community members as well as students.
Read more about this topic: Community Action Against Homophobia
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