The bt LGBTQI+ and gay beach Sydney

Contents:

• THE BT LGBTQI + AND GAY BEACH SYDNEY
• ATRALIA HAS LONG HAD A GAY BEACH SUBCULTURE BUT THEY HAVEN'T ALWAYS BEEN SAFE SPAC
• GAY BONDI TRAVEL GUI
• DEEP WATER: WERE 30 UNSOLVED SYDNEY ATHS REALLY GAY HATE CRIM?
• BT GAY BEACH DTATNS
• STT JOHNSON: MAN NFS TO 1988 GAY HATE MURR
• A GAY DAY …SYDNEY
• BLOODSPORT: THE BONDI GAY MURRS
• SYDNEY GAY BEACH
• A GAY DAY …SYDNEY

THE BT LGBTQI + AND GAY BEACH SYDNEY

“Surfers go to south Bondi, backpackers, fai and people om wtern Sydney go the middle, then gays go to north Bondi.

ATRALIA HAS LONG HAD A GAY BEACH SUBCULTURE BUT THEY HAVEN'T ALWAYS BEEN SAFE SPAC

Before homosexualy was crimalised (1984 New South Wal all the way through to 1997 Tasmania), some beach areas beme “beats” – venu where gay men uld discreetly hook up bee society offered few spac for them to meet and be timate.

But there’s a dark history – the plac beme the scen of vlent homophobic hate attacks.

GAY BONDI TRAVEL GUI

In September 2018, the Liberal MP Shayne Mallard announced a parliamentary quiry to homophobic hate crim mted between 1970 and 2010.

This clus 30 outstandg s of at least 88 murrs rulted gay men beg found ad at the bottom or on top of beach clifftops. Police are now offerg a $1m reward for rmatn leadg to nvictn – after ially, accurately, nyg the area was a October 2018, Waverley uncil announced a memorial monument will be built at the cliffsi Marks Park, south of Bondi, followg the homophobic attacks and murrs of men at this Atralian beach culture, Murphy says, remas more nservative than beach like Sg Spa, “where there are cktails, DJs and parti right on the sand”.

DEEP WATER: WERE 30 UNSOLVED SYDNEY ATHS REALLY GAY HATE CRIM?

You’ll get homophobia bee you somehow have to draw a le – as this nnot be seen as homoerotic. We mt prove we’re not gay and we mt reerate that. ” The profsnal surfer Barton Lynch explaed was mon to ll someone “faggot” or “poofter” when they didn’t tch a wave – homophobic language he has avoid sce his brother me out.

He swam petively Pe but remembers “jok about gays swimmg wh ” and beg punched his swim group. “I wanted to meet gay people a healthy environment and get f along the way, ” he says.

I’ve suffered homophobia, ually men wh sni remarks or thkg ’s a pliment to say ‘that’s hot’. Acrdg to Gav Patterson and John Walker, Atralia has long had a gay beach subculture. The uple, who n the blog, ce nudist beach such as Ltle Congwong at La Peroe (an unofficial nudist beach which police have prevly raid), Lady Jane and Obelisk beach Sydney, Port Douglas’s Turtle Cove rort and the “world famo” Kgs Beach at Byron uple say the associated non-nformy and liberatn of nudist beach often make them popular wh gay people: “As gay people, our eedoms were somewhat rtricted.

BT GAY BEACH DTATNS

” Before social media and apps, they say the beach were a way of meetg other gay people. Text 'GAYTRAVEL' to 1-800-GAY-TRAVEL (1-800-429-8728).

— Travel Guis wh a Gay Perspective. Gay Bondi. Users have lled “the shy man’s beat”, or the “last stop on Sydney’s gay sex tour”.

In 2012 the New South Wal puty state roner Carmel Forb overturned the suici fdg but uld not terme how he police have formed Operatn Parrabell, a team of eight tectiv who will apply an FBI measure of hate bias – creria to terme if a crime is motivated by bias agast, for stance, sexual orientatn – to see if as many as 88 Sydney aths datg om the 1970s onward, cludg 30 unsolved s, were gay hate s were marked suici or e unknown, but past police nclns are now beg lled to qutn.

STT JOHNSON: MAN NFS TO 1988 GAY HATE MURR

A new SBS vtigatn has unvered “ser mistak” were ma the ial vtigatns, cludg the misspellg of one ad man’s Johnson tells Guardian Atralia that applyg the FBI hate bias creria is unlikely to unver gay hate crim bee the strgent checklist requir s to be solved, perpetrators to be intified and their hatred of victims to be proclaimed. Instead, he says, a better exercise would be to pull every police file on every ath near a gay Sydney meetg place om the 1970s to about 2000 and ask: was this se properly vtigated? The aim is to attract a natnal dience to the story, and to unver more possible gay hate crim and murrs producer, Darren Dale, says he was spired by hearg 2012 about the murr of Ahmed Ghoniem, who was found Sydney apartment wh multiple stab wounds and blunt trma juri.

A GAY DAY …SYDNEY

The two attacks were unrelated but Dale, who is gay, uldn’t help but pare the public rponse. “I live Potts Pot [ Sydney], and I thought, if there is someone attackg and murrg gay men – more gay people livg there than I spect anywhere else Atralia – then how e ’s not any of the papers, ’s not been the news? Shawn Seet, the director of the ld Canberra polil drama The Co, is at the the prent day, fictnal Detective Senr Constable Tori Ltigman, played by Yael Stone of Orange Is the New Black, her own DNA to see if match DNA found on a piece of lead pipg, which she spects may be her gay brother’s.

His 1989 drowng had been rerd as a drama’s central ncerns are: Did the fictnal Kyle “Hammers” Hampton (Craig McLachlan) – a one-time member of a gay-bashg gang – play a role the men’s aths?

BLOODSPORT: THE BONDI GAY MURRS

Photograph: Sean O'Reilly/SBSThe ‘gay ATM’It was not until 2005, 17 years after Stt Johnson’s ath, that Steve realised his beloved brother might have died vlently: he had been sent a clippg about the vlent aths of three other gay men year the NSW senr puty state roner Jacquele Milledge found that the televisn newsrear Ross Warren, 25, and barman John Rsell, 31, had been murred two separate attacks 1989, most probably thrown off a cliff at Bondi’s Marks Park, which was known as a gay beat. Photograph: Steve JohnsonSteve Johnson believ, along wh many others, that herent bias play a role both the mimal media verage of the stori and the public and police rponse to vlent crim agast gay people. “I’m unsure what role homophobia played the 1980s, ” he says, “but certaly seemed that the police systematilly avoid vtigatg the aths of gay men, or men prumed to be gay.

”In Johnson’s se, police repeatedly nied that North Head was a gay beat.

SYDNEY GAY BEACH

His brother says this was an implsible ncln: many gay men have told his vtigatn that the area had been a popular beat sce the 1960s but gay men were often too sred to report asslts bee “police treated them like perpetrators, not victims”’s vtigatn also clud terviewg former gay-bashg gang members, who had sentially operated wh impuny bee there was still a “lot of hatred towards gays”, he says. Homosexualy was only crimalised NSW 1984 and the Aids panmic was full flight.

Begng of ma ntentGay iendly Hotels Bondi BeachSydneyNew South WalAtraliaGay iendly Fd LGBTQ welg hotels Bondi Beach Search over 2. Image source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Stt me to Atralia 1986 om the USA man has fally nfsed to the murr of Cambridge Universy graduate Stt Johnson after more than 30 27-year-old's naked body was found at the bottom of North Head cliffs, a well known gay cisg ground Sydney, Atralia, back the time, his ath was led as suici - somethg his fay never Whe was arrted and charged 2020, and this week unexpectedly plead guilty at a pre-trial lawyers attempted to have the admissn whdrawn, argug that Whe, 50, was not mentally on Thursday, a Supreme Court judge rejected that motn, wrg the plea was entered " a loud clear voice, and an emphatic and termed manner". "It was nceivable to me that Stt went somewhere and jumped off a cliff, " his brother Steve told Rad 1 Newsbeat 2018, when he was sperately mpaigng for the tth behd his brother's 2005 Steve says he beme aware of quts to siar aths of gay men at Bondi Beach Sydney - the moment when he says he "woke up" to what might have happened to his younger lol police showed ltle tert re-openg Stt's se, Steve hired an vtigator who unvered urt rerds of gangs who roamed northern beach Sydney at the time mtg asslts agast gay source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Steve (left) has spent more than 30 years tryg to fd out the tth about his brother Stt's athAll the years later, Steve told ABC that he was grateful a trial uld be avoid.

On both ocsns police found nothg to nvce them Stt hadn't taken his own November 2017 a roner led Stt had been murred by a gay hate gang, which led to a new was timated up to 80 gay men were murred by homophobic gangs and around Sydney the late eighti - wh many phed off third qut created a lot of publicy, wh Atralian police eventually renewg their vtigatn and offerg a $1m reward for rmatn, wh Steve reportedly offerg an addnal $ rerds show "a strike force" was assembled, and followg rmatn received om a member of the public, foc turned to Stt was arrted and charged wh murr on 12 May source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Steve says he spent summers wh his brother travellg, readg philosophy and dog maths togetherNew South Wal Police Commissner Mick Fuller prevly said Stt's ath was one of the most challengg s he's ever worked on - mostly bee no-one was willg to talk about his murr.

A GAY DAY …SYDNEY

Stt moved om the US to Atralia 1986 bee, at the time, domtic partnership laws (siar to civil partnership) were some of the most clive the homosexualy had only been crimalised New South Wal 1984 and Steve believ police did not take hate crim serly at the time of his brother's source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Stt moved to Atralia 1986 to be wh a man he met at Cambridge Universy"The gay muny were send class cizens. "The gangs would attack the cisg areas bee they knew the police wouldn't e after also knew that the gay muny were aaid of the police, so they wouldn't e and report the crim. He add his brother was a "proud" gay man, as well as his bt to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

Wh the knowledge that this beach is famo for s surfg and is popular amongst the young and trendy folk (and gays) I cid to head there to soak up the Atralian sunshe and take what this – seemgly more relaxed – part of Sydney had to offer (and to hopefully see some gays). Still, I was termed not to let the weather dampen my spirs and head off for my day at the beach (and to see some gays).