Almost sixty years ago, Merle Thornton AM chained herself to the Regatta Hotel in Brisbane. She, alongside fellow feminist activist Rosalie Bogner, were demanding the ban on women drinking in pubs be abolished.
Sadly, Thornton died last Friday, aged 93, survived by her son Harold, her daughter Sigrid and her grandchildren, Ben and Jaz.
On Thursday morning, Queensland Premier Steven Miles declared a statue would be erected in her honour near the Regatta Hotel.
“Merle championed the rights of women her whole life, well before that iconic protest at the Regatta that helped lift a ban on women drinking in public bars,” the Premier said.
“My government will build a statue in her honour – near the Regatta. Because if there is any Queensland role model that young women and girls should be able to look up to, it’s Merle. Cheers to her.”
Who is Merle Thornton?
On 31 March 1965, Rosalie Bognor and Merle Thornton entered the Regatta Hotel, carrying with them chains and padlocks.
As the men in the pub watched on, the women chained themselves to the bar.
Thornton and Bognor were protesting legislation that banned women from drinking in public spaces with men. As they stood, chained to the bar, they passed out flyers to men, explaining their actions.
ABC Four Corners documented the protest and spoke to the women afterwards.
“Well, it’s not that we think this is the most important issue of discrimination against women,” Thornton told ABC Four Corners in 1965.
“There are many more important issues like the equal pay issue, but it’s something we thought we could make a quick impact on.”
Section 59A of the Queensland Liquor Act – the section that banned women from pubs – was repealed five years on.
Many have regarded Thornton and Bogner’s protest as a cornerstone moment for the second wave of feminism in Australia. For Thornton, it was a cornerstone moment for her life dedicated to women’s rights.
Thornton founded the Equal Opportunities for Women Association, campaigning for amendments to oppressive legislation for women, including the “marriage bar”, forcing women working in the Commonwealth public sector to resign once they were married.
She also worked at the University of Queensland, founding what is considered to be the nation’s first Women’s Studies course in 1972.
Thornton went on to become an author, activist, screenwriter, playwright and director, committed to feminism and telling women’s stories.
In 2015, Thornton received an Order of Australia for her contributions to women’s rights, Indigenous rights, and to the arts.
In 2020, the University of Queensland awarded Thornton with an honorary doctorate on the 55th anniversary of her protest with Bogner at the Regatta Hotel.