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

Contents:

• A GAY BEAT, A FATAL CLIFF FALL, AND ONE FAY'S 26-YEAR BATTLE WH POLICE FOR ANSWERS TO STT JOHNSON'S ATH
• ‘MEN WERE STTERG EVERYWHERE’: QUIRY HEARS OF STRG OF VLENT CINTS AT SYDNEY GAY BEATS
• MAN’S FURY OVER ‘PRAVED’ TOILET ACT SPARKS BATE OVER GAY BEATS
• NSW POLICE: HUNTG GAY MEN AT BEATS
• INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS
• GUILTY VERDICT FOR 1987 MURR SYDNEY 'GAY BEAT'
• GAY HATE BEHD 27 SYDNEY MURRS, POLICE REVIEW REVEALS

A GAY BEAT, A FATAL CLIFF FALL, AND ONE FAY'S 26-YEAR BATTLE WH POLICE FOR ANSWERS TO STT JOHNSON'S ATH

NatnalNSWThis was published 8 years agoA gay-hate murr or an unsolvable tragedy? They had a few hnts for gay-bashg – Manly, Long Reef, or up on the Manly si of North Head, near Blue Fish murr?

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

"The guys were the homosexual men who equented gay beats. He has e back to Atralia om the USA to follow up on a police vtigatn lookg to gay hate crim towards Rebec Johnson's Jam Brickwood"Of urse, I don't thk like that now, " he, not his real name, has e forward to help the fay of Stt Johnson, a brilliant 27-year-old Amerin mathematician who plunged to his ath om a 50-metre cliff near Blue Fish Pot almost 26 years ago.

MAN’S FURY OVER ‘PRAVED’ TOILET ACT SPARKS BATE OVER GAY BEATS

Steve Johnson, Stt's olr brother by two years, never believed at the time he had never heard the term "gay beat" – a place where men met for sex, often anonymoly. Cickshank had told the urt the area where Johnson died was not equented by homosexual men. A 45-year-old gay man had been sunbakg at Blue Fish Pot.

NSW POLICE: HUNTG GAY MEN AT BEATS

The stranger then stabbed the sunbaker, who fled wh the knife his young Freddy and his crew been followg the Johnson ronial quiry, they would have been surprised to hear that homosexuals did not equent their stompg se might have rted wh the police versn of history had not been for another roner's fdgs 2005 about the aths of three gay men around the Bondi and Tamarama cliff-tops the late 1980s, when gangs of youths went on "poofter bashg" rampag.

Their aths joed a succsn of gay-hate asslts and murrs that era, amid the "Grim Reaper" advertisg rponse to the HIV alert and soon after homosexual sex was crimalised NSW Johnson's long-term partner, Michael Noone, ntacted Steve Johnson after the Milledge fdgs.

And that, he says, is symptomatic of a long history of police quiri to the unexplaed aths of gay men the 1970s, '80s and '90s – and his mpaign is as much for them and their fai as his own. Police had asserted was a popular suici spot – and, curly, one officer had told the victim's brother, "particularly for homosexuals". It took Glick days to fd ttimony that was a gay beat where homosexual men undrsed, sun-baked and found sexual pany.

INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS

This officer had told him that Doreen Cickshank still sisted was not a gay beat and "we were wastg our time".

And December 2012, an Unsolved Homici tective had advised them the se had a "zero solvabily x" and that he had on good thory that the cliff area was not a gay beat. "Among those helpg the Johnsons has been Sue Thompson, a lawyer and former gay liaison officer wh the police force. Last year Fairfax Media featured the timat of Thompson and crimologist Stephen Tomsen of about 30 potential unsolved gay-hate murrs om the late 1970s to late early Augt, Willg said police had asssed them and found "fively" that eight may f the gay-hate tegory.

GUILTY VERDICT FOR 1987 MURR SYDNEY 'GAY BEAT'

Jenks says that of 31 s asssed, two had been solved wh "no evince of a gay-hate bias" while eight had evince or "ditns" of potential gay-hate bias. We looked at those aths the ntext of the gay-hate phenomenon. We looked at all the known gay-hate murrs and asslts.

"The leads offered by the Johnsons clu a uple of crooked ps, long kicked out of the force, who allegedly took brib om crimals who bashed and robbed gay men. It appears police uld not regard this as hard Willg has ma clear that police now accept that the area where Stt Johnson died was a gay beat.

GAY HATE BEHD 27 SYDNEY MURRS, POLICE REVIEW REVEALS

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.