Declared in June 2004 in response to the introduction of a government bill to the Australian Parliament in May 2004 (and passed in September that year) that codified the heterosexual definition of marriage,[1] the Kingdom was founded on Australia's external overseas territory of the Coral Sea Islands, a group of uninhabited islets east of the Great Barrier Reef.

[5] A memorial plaque on the north eastern tip of Cato Island commemorates this historic event and reads: "On the 14th day of June 2004, at this highest point in the Coral Sea, Emperor Dale Parker Anderson raised the gay rainbow flag and claimed the islands of the Coral Sea in his name as homeland for the gay and lesbian peoples of the world.

[5] The declaration began, "Homosexual people have honestly endeavoured everywhere to merge ourselves in the social life of surrounding communities and to be treated equally.

[5] The activists founded a camp site on Cato Island which they named "Heaven" after the famous gay nightclub in London as its claimed capital, and "I Am What I Am" was set as the Kingdom's national anthem.

[6] The leader of the protesters, Dale Parker Anderson, was elected Administrator of the territory and then "declared emperor" of the kingdom upon its independence.

However, swimming, reef walking, lagoon snorkelling, bird-watching, seashell-collecting, and shipwreck-exploring were all gay government-sanctioned non-economic activities.

[11] In May 2010, Dale Anderson was invited to (but did not attend) a conference in Sydney for the leaders of all the micronations in the world, in order to determine ways to obtain recognition as sovereign countries.

In late 2016,[15][16] the official website of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands added a link to point viewers to the website of The Equality Campaign, the organisation which called on Australian voters to participate in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, in which a "yes" vote likely would prompt the Parliament of Australia to enact same-sex marriage.