Former NSW Police officer Mark Higgbotham has spoken out about the gay bashgs at the hands of officers durg the 1980s Sydney." name="scriptn
Contents:
- PH FOR QUIRY TO GAY HATE CRIM TO VTIGATE CLAIMS POLICE TURNED BLD EYE
- NSW POLICE RERD KEEPG 'NVENIENCG' THE GAY HATE QUIRY, TOP JUDGE SAYS
- GAY BASHGS, HOMOPHOBIA: FORMER P RELLS HORROR YEARS NSW POLICE FORCE
- NSW POLICE QUTNED REARCHERS' PENNCE GAY HATE CRIME REVIEW, QUIRY HEARS
- POLICE BIAS ULD HAVE LED TO EVINCE BEG STROYED, NSW GAY HATE QUIRY HEARS
- NSW POLICE LOSE URT BID TO EXCLU STT JOHNSON KILLG OM GAY HATE QUIRY
- GAY PS ACCED OF HAVG 'LOOSE MORALS' W LANDMARK DISCRIMATN SE AGAST NSW POLICE
- JUDGE BLASTS ‘OFFENSIVE’ NSW POLICE CLAIM AT GAY HATE PROBE
PH FOR QUIRY TO GAY HATE CRIM TO VTIGATE CLAIMS POLICE TURNED BLD EYE
Legal observers say a judicial quiry to gay and transgenr hate crim NSW mt vtigate claims that police officers turned a bld eye or were volved the attacks. * nsw police gay *
Legal observers say a judicial quiry to gay and transgenr hate crim New South Wal mt vtigate claims that police officers turned a bld eye or were volved the pots:The NSW ernment is settg up a judicial quiry to gay and transgenr hate crim between 1970 and 2010Former Supreme Court judge Anthony Whealy says the quiry needs Royal Commissn powersAlan Rosendale hop the quiry will vtigate whether police were volved his attack 30 years agoA seri of btal bashgs and murrs Sydney brought terror to the LGBTI muny for s, amid failur to properly vtigate. "It was a night out for certa sectns of the muny to go and bash a few gays after beg the pub, " John Agi SC told 7. " Mr Agi reprented the fay of Stt Johnson, whose ath 1988 is now beg treated as a gay hate murr.
The Perrottet ernment will set up a judicial quiry to gay and transgenr hate crim between 1970 and 2010, followg the remendatns of a parliamentary mtee that found NSW Police were different to such crim and failed to properly vtigate them at the time. (ABC News: Jerry Rickard)Gay men would often vanish, acrdg to activist and historian Garry Wotherspoon.
That era, asslts on gay people were monplace, wh reports of more than 20 cints a day.
NSW POLICE RERD KEEPG 'NVENIENCG' THE GAY HATE QUIRY, TOP JUDGE SAYS
Legal rrponnce about an quiry to gay hate crim reveals NSW Police provid material more than a year late and seemgly found old crime scene photographs "by chance". * nsw police gay *
"I was first bashed 1969 when I me out of a gay dance Petersham, " Mr Wotherspoon said. "Gay crim were sometim not treated serly, where vtigatns were not done aquately, and I thk that will she a bright light on those ficienci, " he told 7. "If there are servg officers who turned a bld eye to what was happeng, or had any hand the missn of hate crim agast gay people, I thk they should have every reason to fear this quiry.
Legal rrponnce about an quiry to gay hate crim has revealed NSW Police provid material more than a year late and seemgly found old crime scene photographs "by chance" pots:Crisp Dye was fatally bashed 1993, but his cloth weren't tted until nearly 30 years laterNSW Police provid 261 pag of material an afternoon before the quiry was due to menceJtice John Sackar said one ference uld be that police rerds are "somewhat disarray"There are only weeks left of heargs before the Commissner, Jtice John Sackar, who is due to plete his report Augt. ”Mark Higgbotham has revealed police bashgs of gay men the 1980s.
”The notor former police officer, Roger Rogerson, was based at the statn at the time, but the now-faiar stori of protectn money, pay-offs om crime boss and ps on the take at Darlghurst, Surry Hills and Kgs Cross police statns have missed another, arguably more signifint story: how police were allegedly bashg gay men.
GAY BASHGS, HOMOPHOBIA: FORMER P RELLS HORROR YEARS NSW POLICE FORCE
* nsw police gay *
Higgbotham was wns to this at one gay beat Moore Park. ”Higgbotham was mystified by the anger directed towards gay men by the officers, “which isn’t what you would have expected the middle of a gay area”.
NSW POLICE QUTNED REARCHERS' PENNCE GAY HATE CRIME REVIEW, QUIRY HEARS
NSW Police were worried amics engaged to help review spected gay-hate murrs uld be bias if they were "nnected to the gay muny", an quiry hears. * nsw police gay *
The pth of that anger beme abundantly clear to Higgbotham when he arrted a man for a gay bashg that happened only blocks away om the statn. “I do remember thkg he was gay and askg him what had happened. After the victim, the edor of a gay newspaper, wrote a posive story about Higgbotham and the Darlghurst police, he was seen as some kd of avenger and protector for the gay muny by at least two senr staff at the statn, who subjected him to a soul-stroyg bullyg mpaign, at s nastit durg the ‘taskg para’ at the mencement of each shift, when jobs were alloted.
‘” Higgbotham was not sulted by beg labelled a homosexual by his tormentors – for the rerd Higgbotham is heterosexual – but bee they were g that word to try to mean and stroy him. He has been wh the Victorian police for 29 years, pneerg work improvg practic for supportg sex crime victims the urt early as next week, a cisn will be ma on whether a judicial quiry will proceed to the large number of unsolved s of spected gay and transgenr hate crime aths between 1970 and 2010. “Time is nng out on the murrs and asslts, ” says Mallard, who has been a victim of a homophobic asslt himself.
POLICE BIAS ULD HAVE LED TO EVINCE BEG STROYED, NSW GAY HATE QUIRY HEARS
A tribunal l four gay officers acced of beg "notor for their promiscuy" and havg "loose morals" were subjected to dg tts bee of their sexualy. * nsw police gay *
This is unfished bs for the gay, lbian and transgenr muny, which llectively still mourns the crim. As early as next week, a cisn will be ma on whether a judicial quiry will proceed to the large number of unsolved s of spected gay and transgenr hate crime aths between 1970 and gby league footballer, now actor, Ian Roberts, says the horrific anti-gay crime spree rollg across Sydney the late 1980s and early 1990s ntributed to his cisn to postpone his g out as gay (he had planned to e out at the end of 1989 football season, but didn’t fally do so until 1994) Roberts layed g out partially bee of the gay bashgs and murrs occurrg Wolter Peeters“The public backlash agast soccer player Jt Fashanu (who me out October 1990) also ma me hate, ” says Roberts.
“I wnsed bashgs durg that perd and was myself the target of attacks when I was out wh gay iends on Oxford Street. ”Higgbotham’s story, as well as Ian Roberts’ memori of the anti-gay crime wave Sydney the late 1980s, n be heard episo five of The Sydney Morng Herald and The Age’s podst, Bondi Badlands. Edutn and TragA total of 75 officers pleted Gay Lbian Liaison Officer (GLLO) trag this year wh urs held Sydney, Goulburn and Newstle – drivg our mment to have more LGBTIQ+ Liaison officers regnal NSW.
The vios ver genr and sexualy-based hate crime, relig based hate crime and race-based hate Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras In 2022, NSW Police Force Commissner Karen Webb, led the marchg ntgent the Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras para, held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The PRIDE Police mtee has also met twice already and planng is well unrway for participatn Sydney WorldPri 2023 and Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi mtee works alongsi the GLLO Advisory Commtee which meets at least 4 tim annually to provi advice and directn on the GLLO/ LGBTIQ+ program and related LGBTIQ+ portfol Stakeholr Foms:In September 2022, NSWPF hosted the first Wtern Regn GLLO/LGBTIQ+ Conference Broken Hill.
NSW POLICE LOSE URT BID TO EXCLU STT JOHNSON KILLG OM GAY HATE QUIRY
The meetgs ntue to provi a valuable method of nsultatn and feedback for the NSWPF LGBTIQ on Sexualy, Genr Diversy and IntersexThrough nsultatn wh members of the Lbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgenr, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and other sexually or genr diverse (LGBTIQ+) muni across NSW, the NSW Police Force veloped a strategy on Sexualy, Genr Diversy and Intersex, ntug s mment to workg partnership wh the muny.
Wele Here ProjectThe NSWPF ntu to be a member of ACON’s Wele Here Project, promotg our mment to providg a welg and clive space for LGBTIQ+ people hundreds of statns across the Speakg and Conference PrentatnsFrom 31 January to Friday 3 Febary 2023, sixteen (16) GLLO/ LGBTIQ+ Liaison Officers travelled to Melbourne, Victoria, to participate the 3rd World LGBTIQ+ nference for Crimal Jtice for the first time Atralia, the nference brought police, amics and LGBTIQ+ muny members together om around the world to discs challeng, solutns, and worldwi iativ that provi the bt programs, rponse, and servic to the LGBTIQ+ of our very own LGBTIQ+ Liaison Officers speakg on the signifince of growth diversy wh the Parliamentary Inquiry on Gay and Transgenr Hate CrimThe Inquiry is tasked wh reviewg the manner and e of ath all unsolved spected sexualy-based hate crime aths New South Wal between 1970 and 2010, where the victim was a member of the LGBTIQ+ muni, and the ath was the subject of a prev vtigatn by the NSW Police quiry remas ongog.
NSW Police believed a "key challenge" of fdg rearchers to help wh a landmark review of dozens of spected gay hate aths was that amics "nnected to the gay muny" may lack pennce, an quiry has pots:Police have been asked whether officers had suggted a person nnected to the gay muny uld not be objectiveAssistant Commissner Cranll nied this Jtice John Sackar said some of the ments were "pletely appropriate" The work of Strike Force Parrabell is beg sctised at the special missn of quiry, as vtigat unsolved aths between 1970 and 2010 which may have volved LGBT the strike force, tectiv reviewed 88 s wh that perd to terme whether bias was volved, while a team of amics om Flrs Universy reviewed their methodology and procs and also weighed former manr, Assistant Commissner Tony Cranll, today fend the project and the pennce of the amic review as he was grilled about the tenrg quiry saw a police requt for quotatn om Augt 2016, after a seri of emails explored which rearchers uld be ed. "Many rearchers this area are nnected to the 'gay muny' and may not be as pennt as sirable. " Ross Warren, Gill Mattai and John Rsell were all victims of spected gay hate murrs Sydney.
GAY PS ACCED OF HAVG 'LOOSE MORALS' W LANDMARK DISCRIMATN SE AGAST NSW POLICE
"They may be part of the gay muny, they may have jt voted some time to rearchg gay and lbian issu, that there's many, many rearchers that f to that tegory, " he said. "I don't know, " the wns Commissner, Jtice John Sackar, asked whether the document was suggtg a person nnected to the gay muny uld not be objective, which Assistant Commissner Cranll nied. "And how would you exclu, by the way, somebody who was homophobic?
Assistant Commissner Cranll said he was unsure how a homophobic rearcher would be intified. "Isn't sayg, effect, no gay rearchers are likely to get this job?
JUDGE BLASTS ‘OFFENSIVE’ NSW POLICE CLAIM AT GAY HATE PROBE
That's not exclnary, my view, " the wns assured the quiry members of the gay muny as rearchers would not have been exclud om the tenrg procs, potg out there was a nnectn to the muny the Flrs team clud Associate Profsor Derek Dalton and Profsor Willem Lt, who Assistant Commissner argued had "an tert and a nnectn wh the gay muny" bee they had wrten about topics that area. A bid by New South Wal police to exclu a high-profile killg om a gay hate quiry has been ath of US mathematician Stt Johnson is one of dozens of s unr the spotlight at a special missn of quiry to spected gay hate crim Sydney between 1970 and 27-year-old died after he was punched at a gay beat on Sydney’s northern beach. A 2017 qut termed his ath was a homici, wh fdgs that he “died as a rult of a gay hate attack” viewed by some police as a “feat”.
In the latt velopment, Stt Phillip Whe plead guilty to throwg the punch that ultimately ed Johnson to fall to his month, jtice Robert Beech-Jon dismissed “what appears to be an absurd suggtn [by police] that Dr Johnson killed himself” when sentencg Whe to ne years past newsletter promotnafter newsletter promotnNSW police had argued Johnson’s ath was outsi the current quiry’s terms of reference on the basis the matter was not unsolved, the man rponsible for his ath intified as gay and a sentencg judge did not fd the ath to be motivated by gay the quiry’s missner, jtice John Sackar, on Tuday led s terms of reference were much wir and answers to qutns such as how and why Johnson died were still not urt did not make a fdg beyond reasonable doubt that Whe was motivated by gay hate, but did not le out the possibily, he is due to hand down his fal report next month.