Queensland throws out past gay convictions as man recalls his arrest for being gay
IT was 2am and Alan Raabe had made his way to the Cairns foreshore for an anonymous meeting. Then police arrived.
IT WAS around 2am one morning in 1988, and Alan Raabe had made his way to the Cairns foreshore for an anonymous meeting. With whom, he wasn’t quite sure.
Back in those days, the Cairns foreshore was less “fabulous” than it is today; it was a forested area, dark and camouflaged, the perfect hiding place.
Alan had arrived at a gay beat.
Here, in the darkness, among the bushes and the scrub, men would converge and engage in sexual encounters, away from the judgement of society, hiding their truth in a world where it was actually illegal.
In 1988, homosexuality was still considered illegal under Queensland law. It was decriminalised in 1990.
Today, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk delivered an address in parliament, saying sorry to the hundreds who were affected by the laws, which were repealed in 1991.
But for those affected, for decades across Australia, hundreds of gay and bisexual individuals were charged, convicted and jailed for their sexuality.
Men and women who engaged in consensual homosexual activity could be charged with any number of offences, ranging from indecency to “unnatural offences” and sodomy.
Back then, being gay was regarded as a choice.
“Gay bars weren’t around back then, they weren’t as prevalent, so gay men, bisexual men, men who weren’t out with their wives, for us it was the only way that you could meet like-minded other gay guys,” Alan explained to news.com.au.
1/2 Many #Qlders in the past have been convicted simply because they were a member of the #LGBTI community. Many have sadly passed. #qldpol
— AnnastaciaPalaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) May 11, 2017
2/2 Today my Government will close this painful chapter and move to expunge historical gay convictions in Queensland. #qldpol
— AnnastaciaPalaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) May 11, 2017
On that night, Alan spotted a young, attractive man, who “I noticed looking me up and down”.
The young man was giving Alan all the signs; he was giving him “that” look, the look you give someone when you’re checking them out. Alan was sure he’d made a connection.
“I was walking along the foot path and he walked in the other direction, but he really looked me up and down,” he told news.com.au.
“I turned around and followed him.”
The man lead Alan into a dark secluded area of the foreshore for what Alan assumed was some “privacy”.
“I remember very distinctly walking around this guy three times, getting closer to him.
“I made a comment about the loud noise of cars doing burn outs nearby and he said, ‘I’m not interested in that, I’m interested in you’.
“Not once did he discourage me from being there or anything like that. He didn’t once say, ‘f**k off’ or ‘what are you doing here?’
“He encouraged me to strike up a conversation.”
So Alan made his move. “Brushing up” against the young man, his hopes were blown out of the water when the man identified himself as a police officer — and Alan would later learn he had been targeted in a police sting.
“The police in those days, I learned later, were notorious for that [hunting and provoking gay men].”
Alan was taken to the cop shop, he was finger printed, mug shot taken. He was terrified about what would happen to him. His father was a police officer so he’d figured the best choice for him was to co-operate.
“I guess in lots of ways I was naive about the whole thing,” he said.
“I was asked whether I had displayed adequate control over my sexual urges. I said, ‘clearly not if this has happened’.
“The arresting officer warned me and said, ‘be careful how you answer that because that will depend on what we charge you with’.
“I was given no council on how best to answer that.”
Alan was charged with aggravated sexual assault, a conviction he has carried for three decades.
He says he was “very intimidated” at the time and tried to keep the arrest under wraps.
“There are many ways that life changed for me after that night. I am a convicted criminal in the cold, clinical eyes of the law and I have lived with the constant threat that my past may come back to haunt me at any time.
“I could no longer pursue a lifelong dream of a teaching career, or volunteer at a local respite centre for disabled adults. It was even an anxious and embarrassing wait while my application to tutor non-English speaking adult students was processed. The idea of an overseas holiday to the US was put out of reach.
“If I think about it, the shame that I feel has probably taken its toll. I think that there had been something that I had been bottling up and hadn’t really acknowledged.
“I look back and wonder how this could have happened to me. We’re not talking about ancient times, we’re talking about recent living memory when police resources were allocated to entrapping young gay men.”
Yet astonishingly, despite facing court and decades of charges, he still thinks “I’m one of the lucky ones”.
“I’ve heard stories of people who did go to jail and who were treated badly.”
But today, relief.
The Queensland Government will introduce legislation to throw out past criminal convictions for homosexuality, with the premier also due to issue an official apology.
Even though homosexuality is no longer illegal in Queensland, those who had been convicted still had to declare their criminal record to potential employers to work in the public services, education and childcare industries.
In her address on Thursday, Premier Palaszczuk said: “You have been maligned and shamed, and for that we express our deep regret for the hurt you have suffered,” she said.
- Additional reporting by AAP
— The LGBTI Legal Service is continuing to look for stories like Alan’s. If you have a conviction you would like to discuss, please contact the LGBTI Legal Service. Read more here. Or email youngma@news.com.au.