Inquiry hears of vlence at gay beats | Central Wtern Daily | Orange, NSW

Contents:

• NSW POLICE: HUNTG GAY MEN AT BEATS
• MAN’S FURY OVER ‘PRAVED’ TOILET ACT SPARKS BATE OVER GAY BEATS
• INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS
• GAY MAN ATTACKED BY GROUP LIVERPOOL
• GAY BARS IN LIVERPOOL
• MAN WARNED OF GAY BEAT 'DANGER': QUT
• THE 5 BEST LIVERPOOL GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS LIVERPOOL
• ‘MEN WERE STTERG EVERYWHERE’: QUIRY HEARS OF STRG OF VLENT CINTS AT SYDNEY GAY BEATS
• GRIFFH NSW & SURROUNDG AREAS - GAY LBIAN & BISEXUAL FRIENDSHIP GROUP
• NSW POLICE ENABLED GAY HATE MURRS
• FOUR OTHER GAY-HATE CRIM BEG VTIGATED BY NSW POLICE AFTER STT JOHNSON MURR CHARGE
• BEATEN UP FOR BEG GAY - STUNT LEFT VERED BLOOD AFTER HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK LIVERPOOL

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. ”But another acced the poster of homophobia. Gay men?

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

Sharg a screenshot of the post to the “Marrickville Rantg/Complats” page, she mocked the man sayg he had “accintally happened across a ‘beat’” — public plac where gay men meet for sex. ”One woman agreed, “The historil beats should be honoured for the role they played gay male life and culture this cy and others.

INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS

I’m an old school gay, so ’s neato, groovy, and crazy ol that beats still exist. Acrdg to an SBS Pri article om 2016, beats — which “explod” the 1960s and ‘70s — are “still around and very much a part of gay culture”. ”More CoverageOne man who attend beats on a “semi-regular basis” told SBS, “It’s simply bee a part of gay culture and some men — spe beg able to fd someone nearby on Grdr to f**k the fort of their own home — prefer to go cisg at a beat bee that’s what turns them on.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s, young men were targeted a wave of bashgs and murrs of at popular gay beats across the related topics:Sydney. (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.

GAY MAN ATTACKED BY GROUP LIVERPOOL

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. "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. A gay man feared for his life while he was attacked Liverpool, England, over the after midnight on Saturday, a group of men attacked Aodhan Benson, a 24-year-old om Belfast, while hurlg homophobic slurs.

"If this is what beg gay means, then I don't want to be gay, " Benson told The Liverpool Echo.

GAY BARS IN LIVERPOOL

"Lerally, if this is what my sexualy rults , then I'll not be gay then, if you jt leave me alone. "He add that thori believed the homophobic slurs were directed at the victim, so they are treatg the se as a hate crime. 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. Upgra your night out wh our list of the very bt gay bars Liverpool. While might not be a dited LGBTQI+ spot, Liverpool Naval Club is home to some of the top gay-iendly events the cy.

MAN WARNED OF GAY BEAT 'DANGER': QUT

A firm favoure wh the Liverpool gay scene, The Masquera is a spot worth visg. Ntled the btlg Victoria Street and hoed a Gra II-listed buildg, The Lisbon is a top spot the gay quarter, Liverpool. The partner of Stt Johnson, whose naked body was found at the bottom of a Sydney cliff almost 30 years ago, says he warned his lover about the dangers of gay beats.

"In 1982 I received a letter tellg me that an associate of me had been murred a beat the Blue Mountas and this had ma a profound effect on my views on beat e, " Michael Noone said on Thursday at the third ronial quiry to Mr Johnson's said that while Mr Johnson "wasn't terted gay beats", he neverthels utned him about the potential for "ser danger" fishermen found the 27-year-old's body at the bottom of Manly's North Head December mathematician's belonggs were disvered 10 metr back om the cliff edge, not far om a beat where the qut prevly heard groups of "bashers" would set upon gay men. A March 1989 ronial qut led the Amerin's ath was a a send qut 2012 returned an open fdg after the possibily was raised he had been murred as part of a "gay hate" killg spree Sydney durg the late the third qut, Mr Noone was also qutned over a letter he received London om Mr Johnson who revealed he had thought about mtg suici by jumpg off the Goln Gate Bridge 1985. 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.

THE 5 BEST LIVERPOOL GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS LIVERPOOL

“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.

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

It was well known durg the last three s of the twentieth century that vlent attacks were regularly beg perpetrated upon members of the Sydney LGBTIQ muny – pecially gay men and trans women.

ACON, then the AIDS Council of NSW, kept rerds of the gay hate cints, which at their peak amounted to more than 20 a day. Rearch later rried out by former NSW police gay and lbian liaison officer Sue Thompson and crimologist Stephen Tomsen intified 88 aths across our state between 1976 and 2000 that are spected of beg gay hate-related homicis. Of the s reviewed, officers termed there was enough evince, or spected evince, dite that 27 of the aths were gay hate-related homicis.

In Pursu of Tth and Jtice: Documentg Gay and Transgenr Prejudice Killgs NSW the Late 20th Century highlights a number of failgs the NSW crimal jtice system of the time. ACON chief executive Nilas Parkhill poted out that his anisatn’s vtigatn found that at least 50 percent of the s “had an aspect of homophobic or transphobic bias, ” pared wh the 30 percent intified by the NSW police strike force.

GRIFFH NSW & SURROUNDG AREAS - GAY LBIAN & BISEXUAL FRIENDSHIP GROUP

Acrdg to Parkhill, “many young assailants saw gay men as soft targets and therefore went to well-known gay beats, ” and this should be nsired when termg a bias motive. “In some s, robbery was clearly opportunistic, or an after-thought havg already killed the gay man.

Of the 88 s that rearchers spected uld have a gay-hate motivatn, the Strike Force Parrabell report found that 63 had been solved and 23 remaed unsolved, while 2 were not reviewed by the vtigatn. Of the 86 s that were reviewed, 27 murrs were nfirmed to have, or likely to have, a gay-hate bias behd them. And the third ronial quiry to his ath fally termed that was a gay-hate crime last November.

At the ial qut to the ath, former tective Doreen Cickshank told the urt that the area where the 27-year-old had fallen to his ath wasn’t a gay beat. This was spe North Head beg a well-known place for gay men to meet. ” Although, he did pot to the system for the early intifitn of bias crim and an expand Gay and Lbian Liaison Officer (GLLO) program as enuragg.

NSW POLICE ENABLED GAY HATE MURRS

” NSW police has said is nsirg issug an apology to the victims of gay-hate crim and their fai. It's a vlent slice of Sydney history — gay men beaten parks, hurled off cliffs or vanishg om the cy's streets s barely probed by horrific crim were dredged up aga this week when police charged a man over the 1988 murr of Stt 27-year-old's ath was the most high-profile gay hate attack Harbour Cy events that lead to his smashed body beg found at the base of cliffs near North Head were examed three ronial quts. (Supplied: Johnson fay)NSW Police Mister David Elltt this week nced " was a time where people were slightly dismissive of hate crim and where was too easy to make exc or to move on" are four other gay murrs that fell through the cracks the late Warren Ross Warren, a news prenter om Wollongong, was last seen at Darlghurst 1989.

A iend found his r keys two days later on a rock ledge below a cliff at Marks Park, Tamarama; was a well-known gay beat — a place men met for sual sex — which Warren floated the ia that Warren staged his own disappearance and four days later nclud he accintally fell to the sea. His body was never 2005, then-puty roner Jacquele Milledge characterised the vtigatn as "grossly aquate and shameful" and said Warren was "a victim of homici" year, the NSW Upper Hoe mtee quirg to gay and transgenr hate crim between 1970 and 2010 received evince police officers lookg to Warren's disappearance chose to "sile" the mtee heard that 2001, former NSW Police Detective Sergeant Steve Page found major issu wh the way Warren's se was Detective Sergeant would go on to form Strike Force Taradale, which intified lks between Warren's spected murr and many other gay killgs.

(Supplied)Raymond Frerick Keam's body was found lyg the grass at the northern end of Alison Park Randwick on January 13, 44-year-old father-of-two, who had a black belt karate, was beaten to right troer pocket was pulled out and the glove box and boot of his r, parked 40 metr away, were ransacked, their ntents strewn around the said the Alison Park public toilets were a well-known gay beat and men who were perceived to be gay were often the victims of ser asslts and robberi the time, the ma spect was a man who intified as gay and lived oppose the park where Keam was found. Authori believed he told other men, who were prevly volved the robbery and asslt of gay men the park, that child molters were equentg the Alison Park charg were laid relatn to Keam's Rsell John Rsell's ath 1989 was rerd as "misadventure". William AllenWilliam Allen was found ad his Newton Street home on December 29, 1988 wh several head juri which he staed the prev eveng Alexandria was driven by a passg motorist who spotted him wh blood over his hands and retired school teacher, who worked at Newgton College, said he was bashed and kicked to the ground by "a uple of Aborigal boys" who then took his keys and the time of his murr, he was unr vtigatn for cultivatg and sellg nnabis to young mal for sex and was known to equent a gay beat at Alexandria were no clear spects, but NSW Police noted the circumstanc around his ath were siar to the later murr of Richard Johnson 1990, which led to the nvictn of the "Alexandria Eight", who bashed him to retrospectively vtigated the eight offenrs — aged 16 to 18 — but did not have enough evince to charge anyone wh Allen's murr.

FOUR OTHER GAY-HATE CRIM BEG VTIGATED BY NSW POLICE AFTER STT JOHNSON MURR CHARGE

Media verage of the early years of the HIV epimic ntributed to the high level of vlence agast the LGBT muny NSW the 1980s, an quiry has pots:An quiry is vtigatg spected gay hate crim mted over 40 years NSWIt hears Grim Reaper ad mpaign 1987 had a "particularly damagg" impact of LGBT peopleMedia verage of the HIV epimic drove vlence agast the muny, the quiry is toldThe special missn of quiry is vtigatg spected hate crime aths between 1970 and 2010, which rema unsolved, and was tablished this year followg remendatns om a parliamentary quiry. This week's public heargs are explorg the social, legal and cultural factors affectg the LGBT muny the 40-year Mackie, peak LGBT group ACON's director of policy, strategy and rearch, today gave evince that the 1987 Grim Reaper advertisg mpaign was signed to put HIV "on the agenda" but had a "particularly damagg" effect on gay said "alienated" those wh HIV bee didn't clu rmatn about how HIV was transmted, safe sex practic or what to do if you were HIV Mackie said was such a major mpaign that still ronat the Atralian psyche said at the time whipped up "hysteria" and rulted many people perceivg gay men themselv as Grim Reapers, while rhetoric the media and om some policians also didn't help.

"The quiry was also shown a 1993 ACON report which followed creasg reports of police and uncil surveillance at gay beats between 1988 and showed police practic sometim volved "punishment by spectacle", where beat ers were not only arrted but "ma an example of" ont of members of the report said some police practic were "unnecsary", cludg stanc Albury, Penrh and St Marys where offic had allegedly rmed spects' fai or employers that they had been apprehend at a beat.

Edutn and TragA total of 75 officers pleted Gay Lbian Liaison Officer (GLLO) trag this year wh urs held Sydney, Goulburn and Newstle – drivg our mment to have more LGBTIQ+ Liaison officers regnal NSW. The vios ver genr and sexualy-based hate crime, relig based hate crime and race-based hate Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras In 2022, NSW Police Force Commissner Karen Webb, led the marchg ntgent the Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras para, held at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

BEATEN UP FOR BEG GAY - STUNT LEFT VERED BLOOD AFTER HOMOPHOBIC ATTACK LIVERPOOL

The PRIDE Police mtee has also met twice already and planng is well unrway for participatn Sydney WorldPri 2023 and Sydney Gay and Lbian Mardi mtee works alongsi the GLLO Advisory Commtee which meets at least 4 tim annually to provi advice and directn on the GLLO/ LGBTIQ+ program and related LGBTIQ+ portfol Stakeholr Foms:In September 2022, NSWPF hosted the first Wtern Regn GLLO/LGBTIQ+ Conference Broken Hill.

The meetgs ntue to provi a valuable method of nsultatn and feedback for the NSWPF LGBTIQ on Sexualy, Genr Diversy and IntersexThrough nsultatn wh members of the Lbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgenr, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and other sexually or genr diverse (LGBTIQ+) muni across NSW, the NSW Police Force veloped a strategy on Sexualy, Genr Diversy and Intersex, ntug s mment to workg partnership wh the muny.