The Regatta Hotel and the infamous right to drink for women, 1965

Rushcourt71

"Though Australian pubs tend towards being all-male enclaves, women were once legally barred to 'protect' them from the corrupting influence of foul language.

On April 1 1965, Merle Thornton (mother of actress Sigrid Thornton) and here friend Rosalie Bognor chained themselves to the foot rail of the Regatta Hotel bar at Toowong in protest; the movement they inspired led to the granting of 'the right to drink alongside men' in the mid 1970s."

(Source: 'Australia, The Rough Guide', Fourth Edition, 1999, P355)