Inquiry hears of vlence at gay beats | The Canberra Tim | Canberra, ACT

Contents:

• GAY CANBERRA GUI | CANBERRA’S BT LGBTIQ+ BARS, CLUBS, RTRANTS & MORE!
• GAY CANBERRA
• CANBERRA GAY AND LBIAN SCENE
• CANBERRA, NOT SYDNEY, IS THE GAY AND LBIAN PAL OF ATRALIA
• INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS
• POLICE 'SEEMED OBLIV' TO GAY BEAT NEAR CLIFF ATH
• GUILTY VERDICT FOR 1987 MURR SYDNEY 'GAY BEAT'
• GAY-HATE RELATED HOMICIS: AN OVERVIEW OF MAJOR FDGS NSW
• GAY BEAT TO TRIBUTE: BONDI'S MARKS PARK TO GET HATE CRIME MEMORIAL
• CANBERRA GAY MAP
• CANBERRA GAY BARS & CLUBS
• EXPOSG THE SHOCKG PLAN BEHD ATRALIA’S GAY PRISON
• THE BEST CANBERRA GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS CANBERRA

GAY CANBERRA GUI | CANBERRA’S BT LGBTIQ+ BARS, CLUBS, RTRANTS & MORE!

The crowd is mixed, h 18’s, to late 40/50 year-olds, a small sized venue (parable to Sydney’s ‘Palms’ nightclub) wh the classic ‘gay club’ lights and lours scheme you’d expect.

None of the duff-duff/techno mic, jt R’n’B, throwback ‘gay’ tracks (thk Brney’s ‘Toxic’) and current top 40 pop – all of which sgalong-able to! 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.

GAY CANBERRA

The highlight of the gay scene Canberra is whout qutn the SprgOut Pri Ftival each November, which lasts the regn of three weeks and clus an almost endls stream of parti, a rally para and live mic. The fact had a reputatn as a gay beat and I had heard stori of gay bashgs happeng there might have fluenced my perceptn but there’s somethg about which jt don’t s right wh me. After the Send World War, San Francis slowly beme home to both a gay bar subculture and a homophile activist movement, which mostly operated isolatn om each other.

There was a burgeong Beat culture North Beach, two homosexual bar payola sndals volvg the police partment and the mayor, and an vasive police crackdown agast gay bars that lasted three years. North Beach was home to gay and lbian bars, cludg the Black Cat, an area stutn, as well as gay cisg areas, wh all spreadg down to Polk Street and to the Tenrlo.

CANBERRA GAY AND LBIAN SCENE

The Guild retaed a lawyer and bail bondsman for anyone arrted or near a gay bar, and published a brochure on how to al wh beg arrted or harassed by policemen.

When namg the world's great "rabow ci", New York, San Francis and R Janeiro e to of urse Sydney, home of the annual Mardi Gras, which began as a prott and has bee one of the pla's great open statistilly speakg, Canberra is Atralia's real gay and lbian pal — y, normre Canberra, wh s policians and sued not jt by a ltle. (ABC News: Gregory Nelson)Perhaps unsurprisgly, the ACT also has Atralia's first openly gay head of ernment, Andrew Friday Mr Barr announced his Government's latt move to make the pal an LGBTQI-iendly cy: will ban nversn therapy — a practice sometim lled "prayg the gay away" — which tri to change a person's sexual discreded practice, ed historilly by some church groups, has been lked to mental harm and suici, and is now rarely ed. (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. "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.

CANBERRA, NOT SYDNEY, IS THE GAY AND LBIAN PAL OF ATRALIA

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. (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. 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.

INQUIRY HEARS OF VLENCE AT GAY BEATS

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. (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.

POLICE 'SEEMED OBLIV' TO GAY BEAT NEAR CLIFF ATH

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.

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.

GUILTY VERDICT FOR 1987 MURR SYDNEY 'GAY BEAT'

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.

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). For a se to be clud the dataset, there mt be a primary, but not necsarily sole, al lk between the offenr’s apparent prejudice towards gay men/lbians and their lethal act of vlence.

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

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. This study exam differenc and siari between male gay-hate related and other male homicis, focg on characteristics associated wh the cint, victim and offenr, and the victim-offenr relatnship.

GAY BEAT TO TRIBUTE: BONDI'S MARKS PARK TO GET HATE CRIME MEMORIAL

The prent study analysed NHMP data for the state of New South Wal only and this data was supplemented by data provid by the New South Wal Police Gay/Lbian Client Consultant.

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. The ma reason for limg this study to New South Wal is that supplementary rmatn intifyg and classifyg gay-hate related homicis was only available for that jurisdictn.

CANBERRA GAY MAP

The opportuny to supplement the NHMP database wh rmatn provid by the Gay/Lbian Client Consultant has allowed a fairly accurate acunt of gay-hate related homicis and the characteristics thereof. Other Atralian stat have recently tablished siar full/part-time specialist posns that should facilate the intifitn of gay-hate related homicis their jurisdictns.

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). Durg this perd, on average, approximately four men were killed each year New South Wal attacks related to prejudice or homophobia which may also be lked to notns of genr and masculy. However, given the size of the dataset for male gay-hate related homicis, should be noted that percentage shifts and differenc may only volve small numbers.

A male gay-hate related homici cint is more likely to occur on a Friday between midnight and 6 am, whereas other male homici cints are most likely to occur on Sunday between 6 pm and midnight. Table 1 NEW SOUTH WALES, 1 July 1989 – 30 June 1999: Comparison of Incint Characteristics Between Male Gay-Hate Related Homicis and Other Male Homicis Involvg Victims Aged Over 18.

CANBERRA GAY BARS & CLUBS

The victims of gay-hate related homicis are more likely to fall the olr age groups (35 years and above) (median age of 43 years vs median age of 36 years). For example, is not unmon to fd victims of gay-hate related homici cints that have been repeatedly stabbed to ath, wh up to 75 stabs wounds beg rerd.

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). Table 2 NEW SOUTH WALES, 1 July 1989 – 30 June 1999: Comparison of Victim Characteristics Between Male Gay-Hate Related Homicis and Other Male Homicis Involvg Victims Aged Over 18. In terms of policy implitns one of the most important differenc between the offenrs of male gay-hate related homicis and other male homicis is their youth (see Table 3).

EXPOSG THE SHOCKG PLAN BEHD ATRALIA’S GAY PRISON

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). Table 3 NEW SOUTH WALES, 1 July 1989 – 30 June 1999: Comparison of Offenr Characteristics Between Male Gay-Hate Related Homicis and Other Male Homicis Involvg Victims Aged Over 18. Table 4 NEW SOUTH WALES, 1 July 1989 – 30 June 1999: Comparison of Victim - Offenr Relatnship Characteristics Between Male Gay-Hate Related Homicis and Other Male Homicis Involvg Victims Aged Over 18.

THE BEST CANBERRA GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS CANBERRA

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. This may dite that male gay-hate related homicis differ om homici general which most often occurs between persons who belong to what n be scribed as an unr-class Atralian society (Jam and Carch 1997).

Th, offenrs of gay-hate related homici who were not the workforce were more likely to target middle-class gay men, rather than men wh the same socenomic stat as themselv. This study has found that there are differenc between gay-hate related and other New South Wal homicis relatg to cint, victim and offenr characteristics, and the victim-offenr relatnship. The gay-hate homici offenr is more likely to be aged between 15-17 years; and on average 5 years younger than the offenr of a non-gay-hate homici.

Homophobia and vlent nceptns of masculy are said to be reflected cultural phenomena that are wispread, if not tractable (Tomsen and Gee 1997). 2) outl immediate preventn measur which should be addrsed across Atralia, but her overridg premise is “that vlence preventn measur mt start by removg the anti-homosexual bias Atralian society... In this nnectn, the New South Wal Anti-Discrimatn Board has piled a list of many New South Wal laws which al differently wh gay men and lbians.