SA to formally apologise to gay people wronged by historical laws

THE South Australian Parliament is likely to follow Victoria and issue a formal apology to all gays wronged by historical laws, as the culmination of an anti-discrimination law reform agenda.

THE South Australian Parliament is likely to follow Victoria and issue a formal apology to all gays wronged by historical laws, as the culmination of an anti-discrimination law reform agenda.

The Advertiser can reveal there is bipartisan support from the leaders of both SA’s major parties to say sorry to homosexuals, similar to the gesture to the Stolen Generations.

However, Premier Jay Weatherill says the symbolic step should not be taken until Parliament has dealt with a long list of legal changes aimed at stripping discrimination from state legislation.

That delay has met an angry response from the Greens, who say many men convicted under SA anti-gay laws that were abolished in a national first more than 40 years ago were now in the “twilight of their lives” and should not be made to wait any longer for a formal apology.

Mr Weatherill used the Governor’s speech at the opening of Parliament last year to announce the SA Law Reform Institute would review how to eliminate “discrimination against individuals and families on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or intersex status”.

Mr Weatherill says a full apology would be most appropriate once that process is finished.

“My first task is the business of removing this discrimination, a process that is well underway,” Mr Weatherill said. “Once complete, that would be the appropriate time for an apology.

“Such an apology would ring hollow whilst the state still has discrimination within its laws.”

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall offered cross-party support for an apology.

“SA led the way in gay law reform and an apology for past injustices is appropriate,” he said.

SA Parliament is updating language in a suite of laws to remove gender bias and awaiting a report on what to do about the “gay panic” defence, which allows defendants to argue murder charges down to manslaughter if they claim to have been outraged by a homosexual advance.

The Law Reform Institute is also expected to deliver a further report on equal opportunity, and has made recommendations about the recognition of relationships and gender reassignment.

Greens MP Tammy Franks has a motion before Parliament calling for an apology, and says it could be delayed for years if the Government waits for other legislation to pass.

“Waiting for Godot has nothing on waiting for Jay Weatherill’s law reforms on the basis of sexuality and gender identity for equality to actually come to fruition in this place,” she said.

“We were the first state in this nation to decriminalise homosexual acts, but we now lag behind.

“These people, in the twilight of their lives, spent their whole lives living in fear that they would be outed with a criminal conviction for having sex with somebody of the same sex.

“It’s outrageous that they should have to wait until this Government plays catch-up.”

Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews last month apologised to gays wronged by historic laws, saying the Parliament that made the laws was now “so sorry. Humbly, deeply, sorry”.