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Gay man's death finally ruled a hate crime

Stonecold

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Gay man's death finally ruled a hate crime murder 29 years after he died
Scott Johnson was a 27-year-old PhD student who died at a time when 'gay bashings' were commonplace in Sydney

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The coroner in the Australian state of New South Wales has ruled that Scott Johnson died in 1988 as the result of a homophobic hate crime.

Johnson was a 27-year-old student from the United States and had moved to Sydney to finish his PhD and to be with his partner, Michael Noone.

Johnson’s naked body was found floating in the water at North Head, Sydney on 10 December, 1988. His clothes were found neatly placed at the top of the cliff above.

At the time police ruled his murder a suicide.

But since then and three coronial inquests later, his family have argued there is no way Johnson took his own life or accidentally tripped. His brother Steve Johnson has spent AU$1 million (US$756,577).

Johnson died around the time there was an epidemic of gay bashings around Sydney’s coastal gay beats. One of the reasons police gave at the time for ruling his death a suicide was that North Head was not known as a gay beat.
Coroner’s findings

In the the third inquest into Johnson’s death, NSW Coroner Michael Barnes ruled it was ‘highly unlikely’ he died by suicide.

The coroner said he had been persuaded Johnson was murdered in a hate crime.

‘Scott Johnson died as a result of a gay hate attack. There is however insufficient evidence to identify the perpetrators,’ Barnes said in his ruling.

Barnes also condemned police for objectively and competently carrying out their investigations in 1988.

‘Regrettably those responsible for the investigation quickly jumped to conclusions without thoroughly and impartially examining all of the facts,’ he said.
Pain of history

Johnson’s death has attracted a lot of media attention and happened at a time ‘when homophobic violence and suspected gay hate murders were rife in Sydney’.

NSW’s leading LGBTI and HIV health organization said the homophobic violence was ‘compounded by a sense of police lethargy, lack of care and inaction’.

‘We believe these deaths were not always sufficiently investigated with the requisite due diligence, and have subsequently left many questions in their wake,’ said ACON CEO Nicolas Parkhill.

‘The deaths and disappearances of gay men and transgender women and the epidemic of violence during these decades has left legacy.’

Parkhill said while NSW Police processes and cultures are shifting, ‘a history remains that needs to be investigated and accounted for, not just in relation to Scott’s case but for many other victims of similar hideous crimes that remain unsolved, and have not been treated with due respect or process’.

‘Scott’s death and today’s ruling should be a siren for all, including the NSW Government and NSW Police, that full weight of justice has not been delivered to the perpetrators of this and other horrendous crimes,’ Parkhill said.
 

jeansGuyOZ

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Slightly off topic, but if you are ever in Adelaide check out the "Rainbow Walk", which is a rainbow-painted paved area in the city carrying the history of gay rights in South Australia. One of the first entries in the timeline is the Duncan incident in the mid-1960's. Dr George Duncan was a respected academic. He also happened to be homosexual, and one night he was cruising on the banks of the river Torrens, which was (still is, to my knowledge) a gay beat. At that time the police had the amusing habit of harassing the men with pranks like "flicking them in the river". Duncan was one who got this treatment. Unfortunately he could not swim, and therefore drowned.

Despite promises of full protection for witnesses, his killers were never identified and brought to justice. Homosexuals had been more or less invisible in this country prior to that time, but the ensuing public outcry encouraged the Premier to review the laws on homosexuality, and the process of decriminalistion in this country can probably trace its origin to this case. Premier Don Dunstan was extremely progressive for the time, and in fact it later turned out that he was probably gay himself. Apart from gay rights he is also remembered as a strong advocate for the arts and for cultural diversity, trying to do away with Adelaide's staid image as "the city of churches". Famously, on one occasion he wore pink shorts in parliament.
 

Shelter

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My dear Lord - I'm happy to live today and not 40 or 50 years ago.
 

Stonecold

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I think a lot of Gays in western countries have no idea how bad things were.
 

jeansGuyOZ

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I think a lot of Gays in western countries have no idea how bad things were.
Indeed. And while giving thanks, always keep in mind that some of our gay brothers and sisters in other countries have things far worse than we ever did in the "enlightened" West. Iran still has the death penalty for consenting sex between males, for example.

This is why I find it hard to get worked up about what the latest dance craze is at the gay clubs, who is wearing what this season, which drag queen is this month's flavour, etc. Many gay people have moved out of the closet into a bubble. They need to get out more, read the newspapers, Also they should remember that freedoms that have been won can also be lost. eternal vigilance and all that.
 
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