Sydney man gets 12 years for murrg gay Amerin 1988 : NPR

Contents:

• NSW ERNMENT ANNOUNC QUIRY TO SYDNEY'S UNSOLVED GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM, MURRS
• NSW QUIRY TO VTIGATE 40 YEARS OF UNSOLVED SYDNEY GAY HATE ATHS
• HOW THE 1988 GAY HATE CRIME MURR OF STT JOHNSON SYDNEY WAS ROLVED
• ATRALIAN MAN IS CONVICTED OF KILLG GAY AMERIN 1980S
• GAY-HATE RELATED HOMICIS: AN OVERVIEW OF MAJOR FDGS NSW
• WHEN GANGS KILLED GAY MEN FOR SPORT: ATRALIA REVIEWS 88 DEATHS
• TWENTY-SEVEN SYDNEY MEN WERE PROBABLY MURRED BEE THEY WERE GAY, POLICE SAY
• ATRALIAN SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS PRISON FOR 1988 CLIFF-TOP MURR OF GAY AMERIN STT JOHNSON
• SYDNEY MAN GETS 12 YEARS FOR MURRG GAY AMERIN 1988
• STT JOHNSON'S 1988 GAY HATE MURR FALLY SOLVED AFTER S OF HURT, CSA FOR JTICE
• ‘COLD SE’ GAY MURRS: TWO BOOKS ILLUMATE ATRALIA’S DARK HISTORY OF POLICE AND ARY VLENCE
• COMMISSN VTIGAT FOUR S OF UNSOLVED ANTI-GAY KILLGS ATRALIA
• AN ATRALIAN MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLGHTER ATH OF A GAY AMERIN 1988
• ‘I WAS TOTALLY GRIPPED WH FEAR’: QUIRY EXAM 40 YEARS OF GAY HATE CRIM
• MAN ARRTED NOTOR 1980S KILLG OF GAY AMERIN ATRALIA
• ATRALIAN AUTHORI MAKE ARRT IN APPARENT HATE CRIME MURR OF GAY MAN IN 1988
• BONDI RISE MEMORIAL HONOURS VICTIMS OF SYDNEY GAY HATE CRIM DURG 1970S TO 1990S
• FROM TROYE SIVAN TO PADAM PADAM: ATRALIA IS S GAY ERA AND THE WORLD SHOULD THANK

NSW ERNMENT ANNOUNC QUIRY TO SYDNEY'S UNSOLVED GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM, MURRS

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. "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.

NSW QUIRY TO VTIGATE 40 YEARS OF UNSOLVED SYDNEY GAY HATE ATHS

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.

HOW THE 1988 GAY HATE CRIME MURR OF STT JOHNSON SYDNEY WAS ROLVED

(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 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. The mystery surroundg the gay hate crime murr of Stt Johnson has been one of Atralia's most puzzlg and emotnally three ronial quts, a rerd $2 ln reward and the persistence of fay members and police, a killer has now been nvicted.

Detectiv arrted Whe at his Lane Cove home on Sydney's north shore May 2020 and charged him wh wasn't known to police before an rmant me forward wh rmatn, but tectiv said he wasn't surprised when police knocked on his years earlier, the NSW ernment had announced a $1 ln reward for rmatn that lead to the arrt and nvictn of Mr Johnson's 2020, his brother Steve Johnson doubled the reward by makg a personal ntributn of $1 ln — the first of s kd reward and last year's arrt followed two police vtigatns and three ronial first, 1989, found Mr Johnson mted suici — somethg his brother and fay had always open fdg was returned the June 2012 qut and wasn't until 2017 that then-roner Michael Barn led the ath was the rult of a gay hate Force Welsford was set up soon after by NSW Police, led by Detective Chief Inspector Peter said police had fought long and hard to break through a wall of silence volvg two groups wh rmatn – those who were volved the attack and those who were told. (Supplied: NSW Police)Durg the fal qut, was also unvered how police failed to vtigate many gay hate crim that took place Sydney over s, spe many 2017 qut heard that a group of Narrabeen skheads had bragged about assltg an "Amerin faggot" around the same time Mr Johnson had qut was also told that soldiers at the Army School of Artillery at North Head ed to brag about attackg gay men and nsired "fun and gam". "For the dozens of other gay men who lost their liv the 1980s and '90s, a world full of anti-gay prejudice and hatred, " he last year, the NSW ernment announced an quiry to btal hate crim mted agast members of Sydney's gay muny between 1970 and 2010.

Former Atralian officials have said the police at that time were often hostile toward gay men and did not properly vtigate their Johnson hired an vtigative journalist to look to his brother’s se after he beme aware of a 2005 qut to the aths of three men om the same perd unr siar circumstanc.

ATRALIAN MAN IS CONVICTED OF KILLG GAY AMERIN 1980S

He succsfully petned for a send qut 2012, which overturned the suici lg and remend police revtigate the JohnsonIn 2017, a third qut nclud that Stt Johnson was the victim of an anti-gay hate crime and fell off the cliff as a rult of actual or threatened vlence. A gay prejudice related homici or gay-hate related homici is one where the victim may have been gay or perceived to be gay and the offenr’s actns motivated to some signifint gree by prejudice or homophobia.

GAY-HATE RELATED HOMICIS: AN OVERVIEW OF MAJOR FDGS NSW

The New South Wal Police Gay/Lbian Client Consultant has piled and llated tails of the homicis for 10 years, monored trends, and enuraged rearchers to nduct valuable studi such as those by Tomsen (1994) and Tomsen and Gee (1997). Siar to the monorg role of the New South Wal Police Gay/Lbian Client Consultant, the Atralian Instute of Crimology (AIC) through s Natnal Homici Monorg Program (NHMP) has llected tails of all homici cints, victims and offenrs that have occurred each Atralian state and terrory sce 1 July 1989.

The gay-hate related homicis piled by the Police Gay/Lbian Client Consultant were classified as such after nsultatn wh tectiv, general duti police, wns and rearchers who have read roners’ fil and/or urt transcripts.

Durg this 10-year perd, there were 37 male victims of gay-hate related homici (exclus seven s where sufficient tails were not available the NHMP dataset earlier years), and 454 male victims of other homici (after exclns discsed Study Parameters below) intified New South Wal. A gay-hate related homici differs om a gay person beg killed by another gay person—such an cint is not motivated by a hatred for the dividual bee they are part of a particular group, such as gays or lbians (Goln, Jackson and Cm 1999). A study by the New South Wal Gay/Lbian Client Consultant (Thompson 1999) showed that 70 per cent of the 42 gay-hate homicis rerd 1990-99 volved savage beatgs, repeated stabbgs, mutilatn and/or expectatn of a higher level of btaly has been prented hate crime lerature—see Lev and McDermt (1993), Mason (1993), Mart (1996) and has been observed by hospal staff particularly regard to gay-hate homici—see Herek and Berrill (1992).

WHEN GANGS KILLED GAY MEN FOR SPORT: ATRALIA REVIEWS 88 DEATHS

Approximately 39 per cent of gay-hate related offenrs were aged between 18 to 24 years (median age of 20 years), pared wh 34 per cent (18 to 24 years) of the offenrs of other homicis (median age of 25 years) (see Tabl 3 and 4). Another difference between gay-hate related homicis and other homicis is that jt unr half of the s, the victims of gay-hate related homici were employed, and their offenrs not the workforce at the time of the offence (43. The clu the specialised Police Gay/Lbian Liaison Officers (GLLOs), munitn and tn mpaigns, workg wh schools to rce youth volvement anti-gay vlence, targeted recment advertisements, an award wng web-se, improvg liaison wh the gay and lbian muny, and marchg the annual Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras Para unr the banner “We’re Here Bee We Care”.

Preventn n beg by parliaments and the judicial system placg a stronger emphasis on the rceratn of those who m gay-hate related homici, and so reaffirmg the serns of the offenc, and the importance of equaly. It should be noted, however, that the verdicts were prr to New South Wal removg the unsworn statement om the dock and prr to ernment attentn focsg on the trials via the New South Wal Attorney General’s Homosexual Advance Defence (HAD) Monorg Group. One of the signifint fdgs the prent study terms of possible policy directns was that the majory of perpetrators of gay-hate homici were young men unr the age of 25, and that more than half of the offenrs mted their crim groups.

Edutn should foc specifilly on impartg knowledge of the cince of gay/lbian hate vlence and on lseng prejudic, on unrstandg and on creatg an atmosphere nducive to tolerance, and rpect for gay men and lbians. Former police officer Dunn McNab’s 2017 book Gettg Away wh Murr was a damng acunt of New South Wal policg the 1980s and 1990s, when at least 80 gay and bisexual men and transgenr women were murred Sydney. In the procs, Butler scrib the btal homophobic murr of another Atralian soldier, Jack Lloyd, whose killer was acquted on the basis that his victim had ma a sexual advance and the killg was therefore jtified.

TWENTY-SEVEN SYDNEY MEN WERE PROBABLY MURRED BEE THEY WERE GAY, POLICE SAY

But the police, many of whom had a reputatn for hostily toward gay men, often rried out perfunctory vtigatns that overlooked the possibily of homici, former officials and police officers the police New South Wal, the state that clus Sydney, are reviewg the aths of 88 men between 1976 and 2000 to terme whether they should be classified as anti-gay hate 30 of the s rema unsolved, and the police have not said how many of the killgs were tied to gangs.

ATRALIAN SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS PRISON FOR 1988 CLIFF-TOP MURR OF GAY AMERIN STT JOHNSON

Uniformed officers now march Sydney’s annual Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras Para, which drew a quarter-ln spectators last year and was attend for the first time by a prime mister, Mallm if the laws were changg slowly the 1980s — New South Wal crimalized sex between men only 1984 — society, cludg the police, was even slower to do so. ”Rearchers who have studied the matter say the gangs were loose allianc of young men, teenage boys and sometim girls who looked for victims to harass and asslt at Sydney’s so-lled gay beats — plac where gay men were known to meet, cludg seclud spots on the cliffs. He was found below a gay hangout, but the lol police officer who rpond to the ll ttified that he had not known that at the police found no signs of a stggle at the cliff top, but there had been a storm that uld have washed such evince away.

SYDNEY MAN GETS 12 YEARS FOR MURRG GAY AMERIN 1988

Twenty-seven gay men were likely to have lost their liv to homophobic killers durg a vlent perd of Sydney’s history, a New South Wal police review has force has vowed never to let the dark perd of history repeat self, and is unrstood to be nsirg issug a formal apology for s handlg of the Wednday, police released the fdgs of Strike Force Parrabell, whose goal was to “do all that is possible” to heal the rift that grew between police and the LGBTIQ muny those s. A further 19 men are spected to have died siarly btal attacks, while 25 other aths uld not be led out as hate them was a 25-year-old newsrear, Ross Warren, whose keys were found at the base of a cliff at a Tamarama gay beat 1989. But Parrabell, like the latt ronial lg 2017, saw enough evince to le that homophobic attackers may have thrown or chased him off the of the spected gay-hate killgs rema unsolved and 23 of the 86 s are now back wh the unsolved homici vlence reached a bloody crcendo the late 1980s and early 1990s fuelled by a “moral panic” triggered by the HIV epimic.

Up to 20 asslts took place each day but unsympathetic elements of the police and judiciary meant most attacks were never reported or 34 s had no evince of bias while the remag 25 had sufficient evince for classifitn – but uld not be led remendatns were ma by NSW police to improve how the force vtigat potential gay-hate crim. Thirty-three years ago last month, a lol fisherman me across a gome scene on the rocks off Blue Fish Pot the idyllic northern beach of naked body of Amerin PhD mathematics stunt Stt Johnson lay at the foot of a steep cliff face at Manly's North the cliffs above were Mr Johnson's cloth — plete wh a pen rtg on was December 10, 1988, and marked the begng of one of Sydney's longt-nng unsolved murrs, even if was ially led as Mr Johnson's fay never believed their beloved Stt, who moved to Atralia to be wh his partner 1986, had killed tirels mpaign to fd the tth led to the fdg at a third ronal qut, held 2017, that Mr Johnson had been the victim of a "gay hate crime".

STT JOHNSON'S 1988 GAY HATE MURR FALLY SOLVED AFTER S OF HURT, CSA FOR JTICE

Outsi urt, Steve Johnson said that after years of sufferg jtice, "my fah is rtored" choked back tears as he remembered his brother as a "brilliant", proud gay man, who had moved om his homeland after fallg love wh an 's arrt may never have eventuated whout the ccial 2017 qut, head by Coroner Michael Barn, which laid bare disturbg evince of gay hate crim at North Head.

‘COLD SE’ GAY MURRS: TWO BOOKS ILLUMATE ATRALIA’S DARK HISTORY OF POLICE AND ARY VLENCE

A first qut 1989 nclud Mr Johnson had killed himself, while a send 2012 end whout a ncln as to how he the third qut, new wns me forward to to say the area was a known gay beat, and told of gangs of men, cludg Atralian Army soldiers, nvergg on the cliffs to m gay hate asslts and robberi.

(Latele: Emma Alberici)Mr Glick was angered police had ially nied the area was a gay beat, when was "clear to everyone who lived Manly" that wns told the qut about a group lled the Narrabeen Skheads, who would stalk known gay beats and bash men they his fdg, the roner said he was satisfied Mr Johnson was murred, but uld not nclu if there was any reliable evince to intify the perpetrators.

A special missn heard evince on Wednday regardg unsolved aths tied to more than 40 years of anti-gay hate crim Atralia's most populo state, where police were notorly different to such Special Commissn of Inquiry to LGBTIQ Hate Crim New South Wal is the "first of s kd anywhere the world, " a lawyer assistg the quiry, Peter Gray, said at the hearg's outset Sydney. For five months, a team of pennt attorneys reviews more than 100, 000 documents om police fil and other sourc spanng four s, the missn said a note posted to s webse, for rmatn about anti-gay hate crim and killgs.

COMMISSN VTIGAT FOUR S OF UNSOLVED ANTI-GAY KILLGS ATRALIA

Vlence agast gay men Sydney was particularly prevalent om the mid-1980s until the early 1990s due to creased hostily and fear stemmg om the AIDS epimic, acrdg to a prev report by ACON, a nonprof anizatn that foc on health issu affectg LGBTQ people and people livg wh half of the 88 "gay hate" and "anti-gay bias" aths New South Wal between 1976 and 2000 occurred that perd, the report clu Stt Johnson, a 27-year-old Los Angel-born mathematician whose fatal fall om a Sydney clifftop 1988 was ially dismissed by police as killer, Stt Whe, 52, was sentenced May to 12 years prison after pleadg guilty to murr.

Atralian attus toward LGBTQ people changed rapidly the late 20th 1958, then-New South Wal Police Commissner Col Delaney scribed homosexualy as the "greatt social menace" state crimalized gay sex 1984 but enacted a so-lled "gay panic fense" to charg of murr and other vlent crim until 2014.

AN ATRALIAN MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLGHTER ATH OF A GAY AMERIN 1988

That quiry found the police force "failed s rponsibili to properly vtigate s of historil gay and transgenr hate crime, " unrmg LGTBQ nfince the crimal jtice quiry last year remend the tablishment of the current judicial quiry wh powers to force wns to new quiry, led by New South Wal Supreme Court Jtice John Sackar, will re-exame the 86 aths durg the 24-year wdow and make s own termatn about which on rema quiry has also examed New South Wal fil of more than 700 unsolved murrs and more than 500 missg persons om 1970 until 2010 for potential gay hate and anti-gay bias quiry mt report by June 30.

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

We need to hear om anyone who n help do that, " he have ma efforts recent years to mend relatns wh the LGTBQ apologized 2016 for vlently arrtg and beatg 53 activists who marched at Sydney's first Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras 1978.

CANBERRA, Atralia — An Atralian plead guilty on Thursday to the manslghter of an Amerin who fell to his ath 35 years ago om a Sydney clifftop that was known as a gay meetg place, wh the victim's fay welg the latt twist their long mpaign for jtice. 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.

MAN ARRTED NOTOR 1980S KILLG OF GAY AMERIN ATRALIA

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. 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. 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.

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMan Arrted Notor 1980s Killg of Gay Amerin AtraliaThe killg of Stt Johnson drew attentn to a rash of crim past s which gay men were targeted by gangs of young Abbott for The New York TimSYDNEY, Atralia — For three s, Steve Johnson, an Amerin tech entreprenr, has searched for the perpetrators behd his brother’s adly fall off a Sydney cliff, even through the years when the se was officially classified a long, and at tim seemgly ld, trail may be nearg an end. In that era, former police officers have said, many law enforcement officials were hostile to gays and did not properly vtigate potential homicis agast Johnson, a former vice print of AOL, doubted the suici lg and prsed officials to reopen the se. His efforts eventually helped draw attentn to a rash of homophobic crim the 1980s and ’90s which men were targeted by gangs of young people, who sometim forced them off cliffs to their JohnsonThe Johnson fay hired an vtigative journalist and succsfully petned for a send qut 2012, which overturned the suici termatn and remend that the police revtigate.

ATRALIAN AUTHORI MAKE ARRT IN APPARENT HATE CRIME MURR OF GAY MAN IN 1988

His yearslong efforts have already had some effect: The police New South Wal have reviewed the aths of 88 other men between 1976 and 2000, fdg that more than 20 were lked to anti-gay Mullany ntributed reportg. More than 30 years after Stt Johnson died after fallg off a cliff Sydney, thori have charged a man wh his ath, an apparent gay hate crime that police believe was one of many over several s Atralia's largt cy. "I hope the iends and fai of the other dozens of gay men who lost their liv fd solace what's happened today and hope opens the door to rolve some of the other myster aths of men who have not yet received jtice, " Johnson said.

BONDI RISE MEMORIAL HONOURS VICTIMS OF SYDNEY GAY HATE CRIM DURG 1970S TO 1990S

"It was part of life beg a gay man Sydney at the time, you were aware of the hate crim … uld've been me, rather than the people I know, " Mr Wotherspoon lived through the 70s to 90s, a dark chapter of the Harbour Cy's history where dozens of mal were sla btal fashn. (ABC News: Harriet Tatham)Liberal MP Shayne Mallard chaired the parliamentary mtee rponsible for remendg the legal a victim of a homophobic asslt himself, he said was time for those rponsible to be serve time. It is, perhaps, the bt fence of twk Rh is merely a chaser to that other tentpole of gay Atraliana: Kylie Mogue, whose sgle Padam Padam skyrocketed to the top 10 of the UK charts last month and has (mostly) stayed there sce.

How lucky we are to be livg through the entire spectm of queer all, evably, serv as a precursor to Sydney WorldPri – that 17-day party earlier this year rponsible for the stctn of every gay person’s sleepg habs.

FROM TROYE SIVAN TO PADAM PADAM: ATRALIA IS S GAY ERA AND THE WORLD SHOULD THANK