Sunshine and Rainbows is a history of the development of homosexuality as an Australian subculture. Proceeding chronologically from the 1820s through to the vibrant alternative culture that exists in 2000, Sunshine and Rainbows argues that the manner in which gay and lesbian identity has been constructed in Queensland is typical of Australia generally. Beginning with isolated acts suppressed by criminal law and medical opinion, a homosexual identity developed, which by the mid-nineteenth century was based on male appropriation of space.Sunshine and Rainbows discusses the different roles of gay men and lesbians in the subculture, arguing that by the end of the twentieth century a transition had occurred to a fully-developed alternative culture.