Review: Is this Queensland in the 20s?

There are many famous stairways across the globe: the Spanish Steps in Rome, the Exorcist steps in Washington DC. But you might not have heard about the rainbow stairs in Rainbow Beach, Australia. That may change with Caroline Layt’s documentary, ”Is This Queensland in the 20s?” Layt’s film documents the controversy surrounding a stairway that leads down to the beach in the touristy town of Rainbow Beach. Up until roughly three years ago, this was simply a set of concrete steps. But an organization called, Team Rainbow asked and received permission from the local council to paint the steps in the colours of the LGBTQ rainbow. The painting of the steps wan meant to commemorate Australia’s first Pride House at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

The organization had quite a hard time finding anyone to perform what seems to have been the fairly straightforward task of painting the steps. No local painters seemed willing to get involved. There is more than a hint in the film that this was due to a sense of homophobia among some of the locals. In May of 2018, professional painters came and painted the steps.

The painting of the steps should have been the end of the story. But shortly after, at least one council member seems to have backtracked on giving permission to Team Rainbow, and seemed quite uncomfortable with being associated with the LGBTQ community. Then, a month later, n May of 2018, the words “How Good Is Living” were found painted on the steps, and the controversy began. Some felt that the slogan, “How Good Is Living” could have been offensive to people suffering from mental health issues, especially since, when read backwards, the slogan seemed to pose an ominous question: “Living is good, how?” One interviewee in the documentary went so far as to claim that this slogan might push a suicidal person over the edge. At least one member of Team Rainbow, though, felt that the slogan was innocuous and that the two parties were now co-custodians of the stairs.

The slogan was placed on the stairs by Bron Noffke, an openly gay bar owner and breast cancer survivor. Noffke, speaking to ABC News Australia, in an interview not included in the documentary (Noffke declined to comment for the documentary), said that, “”I honestly thought I’d get fined and I offered to repaint the stairs.” And thus began a cycle of painting over the slogan and the slogan reappearing. A mediation meeting was planned to decide what to do about the stairs, but only Team Rainbow’s representatives showed up.

Eventually, the local council ran a poll and it was decided to keep the rainbow steps, but with the words, “Rainbow Beach, Queensland” on them rather than, “How Good Is Living,” but the controversy rages on. It is unfortunate that the two parties involved in painting the stairs and adding the slogan both seemingly had good intentions, but could not be brought to agree on a solution. This misfortune is underlined by the fact that Team Rainbow is, at its heart, a community organization that seeks inclusivity and wanted to bring a bright message to Rainbow Beach. The core message of the film, apart from the local controversy surrounding the steps, is that we must be tolerant of others and maintain a live and let live attitude. This is the only way to promote a world that is safe for all people.

Is this Queensland in the 20s? tells this story with a detailed time line and interviews with members of Team Rainbow and others, as well as publicly made statements by politicians. There are moments of levity, especially near the beginning when a politician is berated for denying that there are no homosexuals in North Queensland. This is, the speaker says, “adorable, but kooky,” as he offers to download the Grindr app on his phone. The film is also an eye opener as far as highlighting the persistence of homophobic attitudes in Australia. One politician is quoted as saying that homosexuality is simply a ‘fashion trend’ that will pass with time. Another said online that he wanted the ‘sissy’ rainbow flag burned.

So far, Is this Queensland in the 20s? has been Official Selection at eleven film festivals and it was won several awards.