Sydney activist Garry Wotherspoon told an quiry to LGBT hate crim of how he was bashed 1970 for beg gay. It was among the many harrowg stori that pat a strikgly different picture of the harbour cy than what most people experience today.
Contents:
- NSW GAY HATE QUIRY TOLD OF VLENCE, BTALY DURG FIRST WEEK OF PUBLIC HEARGS
- NSW POLICE RERD KEEPG 'NVENIENCG' THE GAY HATE QUIRY, TOP JUDGE SAYS
- NSW QUIRY TO VTIGATE 40 YEARS OF UNSOLVED SYDNEY GAY HATE ATHS
- NSW POLICE LOSE URT BID TO EXCLU STT JOHNSON KILLG OM GAY HATE QUIRY
- THE UNFORTABLE QUTN LOOMG LARGE OM NSW QUIRY TO SPECTED GAY HATE CRIM
- POLICE BIAS ULD HAVE LED TO EVINCE BEG STROYED, NSW GAY HATE QUIRY HEARS
- NEW SOUTH WAL GAY HATE QUIRY TOLD SHOULD NOT LOOK AT 'AQUACY' OF LANDMARK POLICE REPORT
- NSW ERNMENT ANNOUNC QUIRY TO SYDNEY'S UNSOLVED GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM, MURRS
NSW GAY HATE QUIRY TOLD OF VLENCE, BTALY DURG FIRST WEEK OF PUBLIC HEARGS
* gay hate inquiry *
Moments after a Sydney activist was bashed what he believed to be an obv gay hate crime 1970, his attacker uttered a phrase he ponred for years: "No hard feelgs, mate".
"It meant was sport or somethg to them, " Garry Wotherspoon said of the btaly at a special NSW missn of quiry this was the first time the amic and historian experienced homophobic vlence, as he and a pann left a gay dance at a Petersham hall and were set upon by a group of well-drsed men.
(ABC News)Police officers who said they were "by", directed Mr Wotherspoon and his bleedg, broken-nosed iend to a statn to report the said "all hell broke loose" when his acunt of the vlence and "valier" rponse was published a newspaper, amg the attack as police acuntabily whout reference to homosexualy. (Supplied: Bran Gai, )The quiry is examg unsolved aths NSW between 1970 and 2010 which are spected of beg the rult of gay hate public heargs Sydney which this week explored the social, cultural and legal factors that affected the LGBT muny, a strikgly different picture of the harbour cy emerged pared to what most people experience 1980s reprented "the bt of tim and the worst of tim", journalist Greg Callaghan said durg his was a muny "g to s own" as a rult of the first Mardi Gras 1978, bs and social growth and a "blossomg of LGBT culture", Mr Callaghan the '80s, young gay men — full of promise wh much of their liv ahead of them — were dyg durg the HIV epimic, and those who attacked LGBT people had a warped view of the suatn. "I have no doubt, I thk their mds they were given a kd of perverse, moral jtifitn to bash and kill gay men bee they were perceived at the time as the disease sprears, " Mr Callaghan culprs "knew where to go" to fd victims, the journalist said, like the exs of bars Oxford Street's back the creasg number of attacks reflected the gay prs om the time was merely "a drop the bucket" bee most people knew approachg police was Grim Reaper The quiry was told a HIV mpaign 1987 ed "hysteria".
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". * gay hate inquiry *
(Supplied)It was also "vastatg" for LGBT people wh HIV to be reprented as the Grim Reaper by an famo 1987 advertisg mpaign, which to this day ronat the Atralian psyche, acrdg to wns Brent Mackie om peak LGBT group mpaign whipped up "hysteria", he said, as he partially laid the blame for the perd's anti-gay vlence on media verage of the emergg HIV epimic. "I don't thk was the sole reason … but certaly ntributed, " he told the muny rponse, cludg self-fence class, illtrated a termatn to fight back agast attacks which had "all the hallmarks of what we ll gay hate crim now". (ABC News)Trans and genr diverse people were also "swept-up" anti-gay vlence bee the leatn between groups wh the LGBT umbrella was far ls clear the '80s and '90s, said wns Eloise wrer, advote and amic, who also works wh support service The Genr Centre, says that muny is now " the middle of a civil rights stggle" official data, those who are trans and genr diverse are "visible" bee tools like Atralia's Cens stggle to intify anythg beyond bary Brook said ath, sometim trans women and men are misgenred towards their birth genr.
(ABC News)Acrdg to this week's evince, gay beats — public areas such as parks or public toilets where gay men would meet for nsensual, sual sex — were also hotspots for horrific before the days of datg apps like Grdr or Tr, the plac facilated discreet quiry heard beat ers knew they were "dangero" plac due to the risk of attentn om not only attackers, but police officers more terted qutng why they were at a beat the first place than perpetrators of Charl, the first secretary of the UNSW Gay Liberatn movement and a man who scribed himself as a "beat queen", was among those who learned the risks. Growg up Sydney's south-wt the '50s and '60s meant "fdg your own way as a gay man", he told the quiry.
NSW QUIRY TO VTIGATE 40 YEARS OF UNSOLVED SYDNEY GAY HATE ATHS
A Supreme Court judge has been selected to vtigate the e and manner of 88 spected gay hate aths Sydney to give fai answers and close a dark chapter the state's history. * gay hate inquiry *
"There was no knowledge of a gay muny or visibily of gay people, certaly around our area. "Even no knowledge of what was to be a homosexual. "'Worse than a bank robber'Durg this era, prr to the 1984 crimalisatn of homosexualy NSW, Mr Charl had his tails taken by police at beats on multiple ocsns and was warned not to be seen there aga.
"The quiry heard the late '80s was also a time when the lbian muny beme more Ruthchild, former -nvenor of the NSW Gay and Lbian Rights Lobby, said there were many exampl of gangs of men travellg to Darlghurst, the known "centre of the gay muny", to seek out men to bash. 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. NSW Premier Domic Perrottet has announced the most extensive quiry to dozens of Sydney gay hate aths that have gone unsolved some s for more than half a pots:Gay hate crim were rampant durg the 1980s and 1990s SydneyA parliamentary mtee prevly found police failed to vtigate many spected gay hate murrsThe upg quiry will have signifint powers, cludg the summong of wnsThe special missn of quiry will be led by Supreme Court judge John Sackar and will vtigate 88 unsolved murrs mted agast LGBTQI people om 1970 to is thought the quiry may lead to new evince beg unvered or brg prevly unreported crim to light.
A spate of btal bashgs and murrs Sydney brought terror to the LGBTQI muny for s and police were often not terted vtigatg the gangs targeted gay men parks and toilets, and victims were often found at the bottom of such se was the murr of Amerin mathematician Stt Johnson, who was found ad at the base of a cliff near Manly's North Head. (Supplied: NSW Police)A judicial quiry was one of the key remendatns of a 2018 parliamentary mtee to gay and transgenr hate crim, which found NSW Police were different to such crim and failed to properly vtigate them at the time.
NSW POLICE LOSE URT BID TO EXCLU STT JOHNSON KILLG OM GAY HATE QUIRY
An quiry to s-old spected gay hate crim NSW has highlighted vtigative ficienci, the loss or stctn of evince and unreliable police rerd-keepg. * gay hate inquiry *
NSW Police tablished Strike Force Parrabell 2013 to vtigate the murrs of 86 gay men and found a third of the killgs were a rult of gay Strike Force found the AIDS crisis fuelled homophobia but nclud was "almost impossible" to intify a "gay-hate bias" om police vtigators workg on the s. 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.
THE UNFORTABLE QUTN LOOMG LARGE OM NSW QUIRY TO SPECTED GAY HATE CRIM
Inquiry to LGBTQ+ hate crim told a ‘mosaic of motiv’ showed anti-gay bias killg of John Hugh * gay hate inquiry *
An unfortable qutn looms large om an quiry to s-old spected gay hate crim New South quiry has highlighted vtigative ficienci, the loss or stctn of evince, and unreliable police are the shortgs the product of bias agast members of the LGBT muny killed horrific circumstanc, or ditive of the prevalence of problems ld s generally? Police overlooked “pellg evince” of homophobia the btal 1989 Sydney murr of John Gordon Hugh, the New South Wal special missn of quiry to LGBTQ+ hate crim has an quiry scribed as a world first, this week’s heargs foc on seven aths prevly reviewed by NSW police’s strike force Parrabell , 45, was disvered ad his Potts Pot un May 1989.
Kathleen Heath, unsel assistg missner Jtice John Sackar, on Tuday told the quiry that Hugh was a gay man and low-level dg aler whose sexual orientatn was known to his iends and acquatanc, cludg Jon. “It n be hypothised that Mr Hugh’ stat as a gay person ma Mr Jon perceive him as a target that would be ls protected by police and by the urts, ” Heath told the quiry. Reviews of topsy reports for Paynter and Payne, recently nducted by forensic pathologist Dr Lda Il, were prented to Il reported some ncerns wh the qualy of Paynter’s postmortem examatn, she found that his juri were nsistent wh the impact of a no evince of suici, or that Paynter was LGBTQ+, Heath prented proof of his high blood alhol level, the fact that the stairse at that time had no barrier and the time of his ath around said the possibily of the Tathra headland havg an outdoor gay beat – a place where same sex-attracted men gather for sexual and other ntact – was vtigated.
POLICE BIAS ULD HAVE LED TO EVINCE BEG STROYED, NSW GAY HATE QUIRY HEARS
The quiry is holdg more public heargs Sydney as vtigat spected gay hate attack aths the state between 1970 and 2010. * gay hate inquiry *
The submissn of L Peterk, a ral-based gay man who onted the quiry November, noted that outdoor beats are mon regnal no evince of a beat was found at the place where Paynter’s body was found, Heath ’s former brother--law Terry Forster submted a statement that Payne privately me out as gay about a year prr to his submted that the primary e of Payne’s ath was Fournier’s gangrene, a life-threateng bacterial fectn of the reports on Paynter and Payne should be remend to the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriag orr for ath certifit to be rrected, Heath Paynter’s se, was remend his e of ath be rerd as “multiple juri staed a fall om a height the settg of alhol toxitn”.
NSW Police Force has argued that examg the aquacy and methodology of s landmark report to historil gay hate crim is not relevant to an quiry to unsolved pots:The quiry this week is set to foc on NSW Police's changg approach to the intifitn, vtigatn and rerdg of spected hate crimIts judge will terme whether the quiry needs to probe the aquacy of strike force Parrabell NSW Police has acced the quiry of stallg live vtigatns due to the work volved rpondg to legal requtsThat quiry is holdg more public heargs Sydney as vtigat aths the state between 1970 and 2010 spected of beg the rult of LGBT hate attacks. A 2018 report by NSW Police Strike Force Parrabell examed 88 aths wh that perd, ncludg that 23 remaed quiry was this week set to foc on the changg approach om police to the intifitn, vtigatn and rerdg of spected hate crim, along wh Strike Force Parrabell and s fal has prevly been told that, while a report by peak LGBT body ACON found all or most of the 88 s were "gay hate"-related, the Parrabell report found fewer than one third uld be characterised that Monday, Mark Teschi KC, reprentg NSW Police, argued the creatn of Parrabell and s methodology fell outsi the quiry's terms of reference. Counsel Assistg Peter Gray SC said that, subject to the evince, the qutn as to whether the Parrabell aths were motivated by gay hate bias "may not have been sufficiently and appropriately alt wh" by the strike force and s amic Police Force has also acced the quiry of stallg live vtigatns bee of the work volved rpondg to legal requts for Gray said that allegatn was among "var assertns" recent rrponnce between solicors about summons.
NEW SOUTH WAL GAY HATE QUIRY TOLD SHOULD NOT LOOK AT 'AQUACY' OF LANDMARK POLICE REPORT
A pk pillowslip had been placed over his head and he had been strangled wh a leather Gordon Hugh, whose body was found on May 6, 1989, NeThe 45-year-old was known by his iends and associat to be a “passive, kd, soft-hearted and genero” gay man, the NSW quiry to hate crim agast lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, tersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people heard on Tuday. A bank passbook belongg to Hugh was found Jon’ Tuday, the quiry began a third tranche of public heargs and examed three aths, cludg Hugh’ murr, that were prevly vtigated by Strike Force Parrabell, a NSW Police review of 88 aths between 1976 and 2000 that potentially volved motivatns of gay-hate bias. Counsel assistg the quiry told Commissner John Sackar, a NSW Supreme Court judge, that the aths of two other men reviewed by Parrabell, Graham Paynter and Rsell Payne, were probably submted was “more probable than not” that gay-hate bias was a factor Hugh’ ath and “ n be hypothised that Mr Hugh’ stat as a gay person ma Mr Jon perceive him as a target that would be ls protected by police and by the urts”.
The NSW ernment has announced an quiry to btal hat crim mted agast members of Sydney's gay muny over 40 pots:The quiry will have the power to pel wns to prent evinceLiberal MP and gay man Shayne Mallard said was an emotnal dayHe said there was evince of at least 88 gay and transgenr murrsIn July 1989, 25-year-old newsrear Ross Warren disappeared om Sydney's eastern r had been parked on a street near the popular gay beat Marks Park, and his keys were found at the bottom of a cliff closed his se jt three weeks later, whout lotg his is spected to be among the dozens of men murred Sydney through the 1980s and will form the basis of a judicial quiry announced by the NSW ernment on Wednday.
Commtee Chair Shayne Mallard said there was evince of at least 88 gay and transgenr murrs, though the number was likely higher. "[People the] lbian muny were victims of gay hate murrs as well, ually rerd as domtic vlence.
NSW ERNMENT ANNOUNC QUIRY TO SYDNEY'S UNSOLVED GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM, MURRS
A memorial to victims of gay hate crim has been built at Marks Parks Tamarama.
(Supplied: Marton Dobras-Vcze)"The crim took place at a time when many the muny thought gay and transgenr people were sick, perverted or crimals, " chief executive Nilas Parkhill said. "I'm a gay man myself, I've gone to public office to achieve good, and you don't get many chanc like this. "Details about the ntent of the quiry, cludg s terms of reference, are yet to be month a memorial was unveiled at Marks Park Tamarama, the se of many spected murrs, to acknowledge and honour the victims of gay hate 4 Nov 2021Thu 4 Nov 2021 at 1:20am, updated 4 Nov 2021Thu 4 Nov 2021 at 3:29am.