‘Men were stterg everywhere’: quiry hears of strg of vlent cints at Sydney gay beats | Sydney | The Guardian

Contents:

• NSW POLICE: HUNTG GAY MEN AT BEATS
• GUILTY VERDICT FOR 1987 MURR SYDNEY 'GAY BEAT'
• NEWSTLE PRI'S 'SCREAM GAY'
• POLICE 'SEEMED OBLIV' TO GAY BEAT NEAR CLIFF ATH
• ‘MEN WERE STTERG EVERYWHERE’: QUIRY HEARS OF STRG OF VLENT CINTS AT SYDNEY GAY BEATS
• INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS
• PARLIAMENTARY QUIRY TO GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM TO REMEND HEARG NEWSTLE
• ‘I WAS TOTALLY GRIPPED WH FEAR’: QUIRY EXAM 40 YEARS OF GAY HATE CRIM
• GRANDAD KILLED 'WARDLY' ATTACK: GAY HATE QUIRY
• ATRALIA HAS LONG HAD A GAY BEACH SUBCULTURE BUT THEY HAVEN'T ALWAYS BEEN SAFE SPAC
• ‘I WAS TOTALLY GRIPPED WH FEAR’: QUIRY EXAM 40 YEARS OF GAY HATE CRIM

NSW POLICE: HUNTG GAY MEN AT BEATS

Beats ed to be a place where men uld meet before gay pri movements won the right to meet pubs and clubs. Beat ers have reported hourly patrols by several police vehicl, vert patrols on foot, the wrongful "banng" people om the area for 28 days, rogatory personal ments, threats to e pepper spray, e of unnecsary force, arrt whout charge and other homophobic behavur.

In a letter to cy admistrators, LECD says that by regulatg sex public, the safety of homosexuals om "queer-bashers" n be better guaranteed. Communy Actn Agast Homophobia (CAAH) is mpaigng to end harassment of men Sydney beats and will provi onle rmatn for beat ers to bee better rmed of their rights when approached by police. Raymond Keam was fatally bashed 1987 a Sydney park known as a gay beat.

(PR HANDOUT IMAGE PHOTO)A 36-year-old ld se is nearg s long-overdue ncln after a jury returned a guilty verdict for murr at a well-known gay beat Sydney's east. A NSW Supreme Court jury returned s guilty verdict on Wednday after hearg that Early had attacked the 43-year-old martial arts expert Randwick's Alison Park spectg he was homosexual.

GUILTY VERDICT FOR 1987 MURR SYDNEY 'GAY BEAT'

A post-mortem examatn revealed he died om severe head juri and a 1988 qut found Mr Keam died after beg stck by a person or persons Park had a reputatn for beg a gay beat, crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC told the jury as the trial verdict spe a wholly circumstantial se beg brought agast Early wh no wns seeg he had any ntact wh Mr June 2021 a $1 ln reward was offered for rmatn about the was arrted at a home Clayton, Victoria two months later and was extraded to NSW where he remaed for the Keam's hherto unsolved ath was one of 88 killgs between 1976 and 2000 recently reviewed by police probg potential gay-hate vlence and allegatns of prr intified as heterosexual, was divorced om one woman and a facto relatnship wh another, havg a child wh each.

Newstle Pri's 'Scream Gay' an Out 'n' Proud Inclive event is back this month the 9th of July, wh MC Cockgton Black! (Bian De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)When police found 18-year-old Mark Stewart ad at the bottom of a cliff near a known gay beat on Sydney's northern beach, they quickly led out foul a special missn of quiry to spected gay hate crim has heard NSW Police should have done more to vtigate if Mr Stewart was ath near Manly 1976 is the last a tranche of four s beg examed by the probe, which was lnched at the urgg of a NSW parliamentary quiry to LGBTQI hate crim om 1970 to is unclear whether Mr Stewart fell to his ath as a rult of suici, accint or homici, unsel assistg the quiry William Mars told the hearg police should have done more to nvass the area for potential evince or Mars cricised police for losg Mr Stewart's se file as well as a potentially tellg note found on his body, which uld have been the clue on whether he had met up wh a potential romantic tert at a Kgs Cross gay bar. Officers appeared obliv to the fact Mr Stewart may have been the area bee was a known gay beat, even though police had been btg men for homosexual activi there, Commissner John Sackar was hate asslts were a mon occurrence Manly durg the 1970s but the police report found "no spic circumstanc" surroundg the ath.

"One might have hoped that potential offendg motivated by gay hatred would have been a nsiratn the mds of police officers, " Mr Mars said. Earlier, the quiry examed the se of Carl Stockton, a 52-year-old tra driver who was found lyg on an ner Sydney street 1996, vered blood and sufferg severe head Stockton, who was openly gay, died five days later at St Vcent's Mr Stewart's se, there was not enough evince to terme that Mr Stockton was targeted for his sexualy, even though he had prevly been the victim of several gay hate attacks, unsel assistg the quiry Christe Melis told the did not follow up on tip-offs about a group of men the area who were allegedly bashg patrons at Bar Cleveland, a pub equented by gay men that Mr Stockton attend on the night he staed his was mon for victims of LGBTQI bias crim not to report to police at the time due to "mistst and act relatns", Ms Melis said. Homosexual nduct was crimalised NSW 1984 but homophobic attus were still rife the muny durg the 1980s and '90s, and anti-gay bashgs were special missn is due to liver s report to the NSW ernor June.

NEWSTLE PRI'S 'SCREAM GAY'

As Garry Wotherspoon observ: “[H]omosexuals have been imagative creatg other for a range of stutns … sce the ways which heterosexuals n meet each other openly are not available to homosexuals. Brought to you by the Atralian Lbian and Gay Archiv.

Men at a popular Sydney gay beat had to stter when a r reered towards them “like was on a kangaroo shoot”, an quiry has r’s headlights and an apparent spotlight were blazg as the r drove at men at Rhcutters Bay Park Sydney’s east the 1990s. “It was a by Saturday night and men were stterg everywhere, nng like the dickens, ” Barry Charl said on 72-year-old longtime gay rights activist was givg evince at the New South Wal Special Commissn of Inquiry to LGBTIQ hate is vtigatg historil hate crim agast the queer muny, particularly a wave of gay hate homicis and other crim Sydney durg the Aids epimic of the 1980s. “While as a young man om Punchbowl ( Sydney’s wt) I had no ia how to fd a gay bar, beats were somethg I uld fd, ” he equented them between 1969 and 1998, visg at least 40 different on around sex was mostly anonymo and wordls, as the majory wanted to get over and done wh as quickly as possible.

“Hangg around for longer than necsary was dangero, bee you knew you uld be apprehend, or were danger of vlence and some men were at risk of beg exposed as gay.

POLICE 'SEEMED OBLIV' TO GAY BEAT NEAR CLIFF ATH

(PR HANDOUT IMAGE PHOTO)Men at a popular Sydney gay beat had to stter when a r reered towards them "like was on a kangaroo shoot", an quiry has r's headlights and an apparent spotlight were blazg as the r drove at men at Rhcutters Bay Park Sydney's east, the 1990s.

"It was a by Saturday night and men were stterg everywhere, nng like the dickens, " Barry Charl said on 72-year-old long-time gay rights activist was givg evince at the NSW Special Commissn of Inquiry to LGBTIQ hate is vtigatg historil hate crim agast the queer muny, particularly a wave of gay hate homicis and other crim Sydney durg the AIDS epimic of the 1980s.

Dcribg himself as a "beats queen", Mr Charl said he was aware that vlence agast gay men at beats was occurrg before the equented them between 1969 and 1998, visg at least 40 different on around Sydney.

‘MEN WERE STTERG EVERYWHERE’: QUIRY HEARS OF STRG OF VLENT CINTS AT SYDNEY GAY BEATS

"Hangg around for longer than necsary was dangero, bee you knew you uld be apprehend, or were danger of vlence and some men were at risk of beg exposed as gay, " he Charl listed a strg of vlent acts he wnsed or experienced at beats, tellg the quiry he managed to sprt over the footbridge away om the r at the Rhcutters Bay cint.

Another time an adolcent boy h him wh a tree saplg om the park, which was later the scene of a bashg murr of a gay outled his years of activism, notg a gay solidary Sydney rally phed the marchers back and began arrtg people after they cid to lay a wreath at the war memorial, to memorate gay and lbian service people.

"Durg the early 1980s, the gay muny's growg visibily and nfince also meant growg vlence agast he rejected opns that the advent of HIV/AIDS gave rise to more anti-gay vlence wh beg ed as an exce or jtifitn. Pictur: Simone De PeakThe chair of a parliamentary quiry to gay and transgenr hate crim  NSW says an upg report will remend the quiry ntu after the state electn to nduct heargs regnal muni, cludg Newstle. Submissns to the legislative uncil quiry allege multiple s of homophobic vlence the Hunter as well as biased nduct by members of the jtice system  the reference perd of 1970 to 2010.

INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS

Submissns to the quiry clu one report om a muny group claimg a seri of attacks at a gay beat Lake Macquarie between 2011 and 2015 were not acted upon by police, cludg verbal threats, men throwg fireworks and one man beg h over the head wh a tail cints of street harassment and asslt  Newstle sce 1990, one as recent as Allen Gee, a lecturer soc-legal studi who has nducted rearch on anti-gay vlence the Hunter, said he supported the quiry ntug bee was “impossible” to quantify historic rat of vlence teh regn as cints were generally not reported to police.

He said terviews he had nducted suggted the gay and lbian muny was subject to attacks between the 70s and 90s. ”One applint to the quiry said they were punched “by a man who was targetg anyone that was walkg to the door of a gay nightclub” Newstle 1990.

”Another applint claims she was told “not to go out alone to any gay venu anywhere the state” durg Mardi Gras after alleged attacks on men om Newstle. An article om the Newstle Herald about the murr of Alan Edge, which sparked a "wch hunt" which police qutned hundreds of gay men the cy.

PARLIAMENTARY QUIRY TO GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM TO REMEND HEARG NEWSTLE

Dr Gee said police relatns wh the gay muny the cy were also “not good” before a cultural shift the 90s prompted by the crimalisatn of homosexual acts 1984. Police harassment the cy gaed attentn 1978 when journalist David Marr reported the Natnal Tim that officers had terviewed and rerd the personal tails of hundreds of gay men  relatn to a murr Police’s review of the five murrs, found no evince of anti-gay bias volved the crim. A further submissn to the quiry, however, argu that another murr that occurred  Merriwa 1978 was downgrad to a se of manslghter due to the e of a “gay panic fence” Mallard said the terim report on the quiry to gay and transgenr hate crim between 1970 and 2010 will be published on the NSW Parliament webse.

Now 88, Peterk told the special missn of quiry to LGBTQ+ hate crim Sydney this week that he’d been targeted for beg gay as far back as the 1950s, when he was arrted by unrver police at a known meet-up spot. His acunt gave a glimpse to the experienc of a ral gay man whose life spans the quiry’s reference dat, 1970 to jt a few days of heargs, the broast snapshot ever of ral and regnal LGBTQ+ hate crim has e to light.

In the 1950s he moved to Sydney to take up teachg 1956, 28 years before homosexualy was crimalised NSW, he was arrted by a police officer posg as a gay man at a North Sydney ‘beat’, a public toilet or other public place equented by men seekg ntact, often sexual, wh same-sex attracted men. Homophobic people knew that homosexual men would attend a public toilet and would lie wa.

‘I WAS TOTALLY GRIPPED WH FEAR’: QUIRY EXAM 40 YEARS OF GAY HATE CRIM

”Country men killed spected hate crime attacksThe quiry has listed two unsolved aths of gay men om regnal areas who may have been killed. Both men later died of signifint head Miller, om Orange the New South Wal central wt, attend the annual Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras March 1997. Parrabell also looked at the ath of 33-year-old Rsell Payne, who was found ad his home at Inverell 1989; and the ath of 36-year-old Graham Paynter, whose body was disvered at the base of a cliff at Tathra on the state’s far-south ast the same ’s ath was tegorised as a spected crime of “bias”, but the Parrabell report stated that evince of gay hate was eher not found the other ral s, or there was sufficient rmatn llected durg ial police quiri to now tegorise any motive for them.

GRANDAD KILLED 'WARDLY' ATTACK: GAY HATE QUIRY

Payne’s ath was not vtigated as a least one ral killg of a gay man rulted a nvictn.

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

The motive of gay-hatred was raised but not tablished durg the subsequent trial, although the Parrabell vtigatn tegorised the 67-year-old’s ath as a spected bias crime.

A 2020 parliamentary quiry report stated that the NSW police had “failed s rponsibili to properly vtigate” gay and transgenr hate current special missn will quire to unsolved Parrabell s, and unsolved aths where the victim was om the LGBTQ+ muny and the cint was prevly vtigated by NSW police. Michael Burge’s but novel Tank Water (MidnightSun Publishg) explor the subject of gay-hate crim ral Atralia.

His article Backwards to Bourke: Bulldt about Gays the Bh was published the Journal of Atralian Studi. A gay hate quiry will hear about the ath of a 69-year-old grandfather NSW 1980.

‘I WAS TOTALLY GRIPPED WH FEAR’: QUIRY EXAM 40 YEARS OF GAY HATE CRIM

(Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)A grandfather fatally bashed a "wardly attack" at a Newstle gay beat 1980 was probably viewed as an easy target for robbery, a NSW gay hate crim quiry has been Special Commissn of Inquiry on Friday examed the ath of Richard Slater, 69, who died three days after beg beaten and robbed si a Newstle toilet block, December quiry was told the ex-BHP crane driver was on a shoppg trip town when he was set upon the block, a "renowned" homosexual meetg was told the "much-loved" man, whose fay assumed to be straight and who had a prostate ndn that led to equent uratn, suffered a trmatic bra jury the asslt.

A lol gay man, now ad, seen the vicy was likely rponsible and targeted Mr Slater - potentially rrectly - as a "vulnerable" beat spected attacker, 20 years old at the time, had a substantial crimal rerd, cludg offenc of vlence. Counsel assistg labelled a police report ma a day after the ath as "extraordary" for claimg there were no spic circumstanc, when there existed the "ncerng batn" of Mr Rath's troers beg partially down and the lotn beg a gay Mars also cricised the police vtigatn, potg to mimal clifftop searchg, no nvassg of lols and no quiri at a nearby church to see if Mr Rath attend as ual.