Parker & Hulme: A Lesbian ViewJuliet Hulme and Pauline Parker were teenagers in New Zealand, ages 15 and 16, when in June 1954 they killed Pauline's mother. The murder resulted in a sensational court case, extensive local and international media coverage, and a public association of lesbianism with "evil", "insanity", and extreme violence. In 1991, two New Zealanders published Parker & Hulme: A Lesbian View. By zeroing in on the circumstances and significance of the case beyond the "mad" or "bad" sound bites bandied about almost 40 years earlier, the authors exposed the issues of sexuality and social control - classism, homophobia, racism - within which the headlines were mired. After the release of Heavenly Creatures - the successful movie based on the murder case - Juliet Hulme was "outed" as the well-known mystery writer Ann Perry, alive and well and living in Scotland. A second furor erupted, as the now 56-year-old Hulme/Perry disclaimed any memory of a lesbian involvement with her cohort. |
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adolescent Auckland August behaviour Canterbury Christchurch Girls classmate of Parker considered crime criminal Department of Justice discussed Dykes To Watch evil Exalted Type felt female offender feminist film folie à deux gender Girls High School Heavenly Creatures Henry Hulme Herbert Rieper heterosexual Hilda Hulme homosexuality Honora Parker Hulme family ibid Ilam insanity Interview with classmate Journal Juliet and Pauline Juliet Hulme July June killers Leopold and Loeb lesbian relationships lived London Maori Marriage Guidance Council mental mother Mount Eden prison murder newspaper Notes of Evidence NZ Truth organisations Pakeha paranoia parents Parker and Hulme Parker-Hulme Pauline and Juliet Pauline Parker Pauline wrote Pauline's diaries person photograph police Port Levy prison prosecution psychiatric reported September 1954 sexual social society stories Supreme Court trial talked teenage thought told Transcripts University Victoria Park Walter Perry Wellington woman Woman's Weekly writing Zealand