In 1965, Merle Thornton and her friend Rosalie Bogner chained themselves to a bar in protest against the ban on women drinking in public bars.
Fifty-five years later, women from the University of Queensland gathered at the Regatta Hotel — in a corner aptly named "Merle's Bar" — to celebrate her receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland.
The protest was a defining moment in Queensland's feminism movement and led to the repeal of section 59A of the Queensland Liquor Act five years later.
UQ Vice-Chancellor Debbie Terry said the honorary doctorate of letters was awarded to Ms Thornton for the "extraordinary impact that she has had on our society."
"Acknowledging and recognising that contribution through an honorary doctorate of letters is of course the highest honour that we bestow as a university," Ms Terry said.
The 'Merle Pledge'
Along with the doctorate, Ms Thornton has also had her legacy celebrated in the form of a pledge taken by staff at the University of Queensland to commit to increasing the visibility of women in the corporate world.
The "Merle Pledge" was created to address the lack of gender balance at conferences and events, and anyone who takes the pledge will commit to request gender equity as a condition of their participation in panels or conferences.
Head of workplace diversity and inclusion at the University of Queensland, Dr Dee Gibbon said she has taken the Merle Pledge alongside every member of the school's senior leadership team.
"When people take the Merle Pledge they're committing to not participate in any panel or event unless there is good representation of women," Ms Gibbon said.
"In some of our academic fields like physics or electrical engineering, it's possible for there to be conferences or events where there are actually no women and we want to see that changed," she said.
Dr Jacqueline Romero is a physics and mathematics fellow at UQ and understands the gender imbalance in the science industry firsthand.
"I work in physics and it a very male-dominated field," Dr Romero said.
"I think it's really important that young people today who discover their passion for physics see that it is a diverse field and you can make a significant contribution even if you don't look like everyone else," she said.
"I've been to many conferences where I wished there were more women there or people who look like me, people of colour for example."
Dr Romero said she was impressed by Merle Thornton's career and her fight for women's and Indigenous rights.
'Deeply honoured'
Merle's daughter Sigrid Thornton said her mother was "thrilled, delighted and honoured" by the recognition.
"This is a wonderful securement of her legacy," Ms Thornton said.
"At 90 [years old], Mum's deeply, deeply honoured."
As a "gender-quota advocate" herself in her own field of film and television, Thornton said the Merle Pledge was important and much-needed.
"Women and underrepresented groups across the board need to be given an opportunity to redress the balance," she said.
"I think Merle's Pledge is a shining example of this and Merle is delighted to have it named after her.
"What it'll mean is more women educators will be allowed to hold the floor and inspire younger people, women and men coming up, we need as many male feminists as we do women."
