Speakers paid tribute to the activism of David Hindley at yesterday's launch of his photo exhibition, “What Are You Afraid Of?”, which opened at Wellington's Turnbull House. The exhibition features over 40 black and white images taken by Hindley throughout the 16-month campaign, which saw the successful passage of Homosexual Law Reform on July 9, 1986. Speaking on behalf of the Lesbian and Gay Archives of New Zealand (LAGANZ), curator Linda Evans spoke of the “horrendous campaign” which saw the religious right bring out the “big guns” in their attempt to scuttle Law Reform. Evans paid particular tribute to the “diverse community”, with gays and lesbians of all ages, both Maori and Pakeha, contributing to the “major victory against the political right.” “It was an “extraordinary, tense, difficult and exciting time,” said Bill Logan, media front man for the Wellington Gay Task Force in 1985-86. He made special note of Hindley's many contributions as a coordinator with the Gay Task Force, media advisor and strategist. Hindley “quietly and modestly worked in the background,” said Logan, and noted that most of the press releases of the time were, in fact, the work of Hindley. Fran Wilde, the Labour MP who sponsored the Homosexual Law Reform Bill, emphasised that the key to the success of the campaign was in educating the public, and to do so required that the gay and lesbian communities maintained a high degree of visibility. “The real heroes of the campaign were the thousands of gays and lesbians who had the courage to come out,” said Wilde. Wilde joked that the money for the campaign “came from Auckland, but the intellect from Wellington!” to which the crowd responded with thunderous applause. The exhibition features rarely seen images of public and private meetings, behind-the-scenes action, and images of the now infamous “Nuremberg Rally” on the steps of Parliament, which saw the presentation of the petition against Law Reform. Some of the images show signs of fire damage, as a result of the arson attack on the gay and lesbian archives shortly after the successful vote. Speakers expressed their delight that so many young people had attended the launch. Sponsored by LAGANZ, the exhibition continues in Wellington until Wednesday, before heading to Auckland for display at the Aotea Centre for a week from Saturday 15 July.