Dominic Perrottet resisting calls for gay apology

The NSW Premier is resisting pressure to apologise to men who were arrested and imprisoned for the crime of consensual gay sex.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is resisting pressure to apologise to men who were arrested and imprisoned for the crime of consensual gay sex ahead of Sydney World Pride.

At least 29 men have had convictions for historical homosexual offences extinguished under laws introduced in November 2014, about three decades after NSW decriminalised gay sex.

Former NSW Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith, the architect of the extinguishment laws, said an apology from state parliament would vindicate the sense of injustice felt by survivors.

“People are still living with the trauma of all those years ago and it ruined a lot of people’s lives,” said Mr Notley-Smith, who was also the first openly gay member of the NSW Legislative Assembly.

“Anything that can be done to some way heal that would be welcome.”

Mr Notley-Smith delivered state parliament’s apology in 2016 to the “78ers” – marchers at Sydney’s first ever Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in 1978 who were violently arrested and jailed.

Bruce Notley-Smith. Picture: Justin Lloyd

The Sydney Morning Herald published the names and addresses of the marchers the next morning.

NSW Police apologised in 2016 and 2018 to the 78ers and acknowledged a difficult past with the LGBT community but has never formally acknowledged the harm wrought during a crackdown on gay men in the 1950s and 1960s.

Former NSW Justice Minister and Attorney-General Reg Downing – whom after the Downing Centre Local & District Court in Sydney is named – with the support of then NSW Police Commissioner Colin Delaney, in 1951 removed a legal loophole that allowed men to consent to gay sex.

Journalist Patrick Abboud revealed NSW authorities sent gay men to a secret prison in Cooma, about 400km south of Sydney, in investigative podcast The Greatest Menace from Audible.

Abboud has been assisting 85-year-old David (a pseudonym) extinguish his record after he was arrested in a public bathroom in 1961 before serving nine months inside Cooma prison for the crime of attempting to procure active indecency.

David tells Abboud in an episode to be released on Wednesday that the police officer came on to him and that the arrest and imprisonment ruined the rest of his life.

“I was always thinking about looking over my shoulder all the time, whether I was being followed to be entrapped again,” said David.

“I don’t even know what love is, I don’t even know what it would do for me.”

Abboud said an apology from police and parliament would allow survivors to live the rest of their lives in peace.

“It’s not just their history, it‘s their present,” he said.

“They’re still living in that history because the damage is deep.”

Journalist Patrick Abboud, who has created The Greatest Menace, a podcast about the world's only gay prison. Picture: Rohan Thomson

Law reform decriminalising consensual sex between men occurred in NSW in 1984 but people with convictions for historic offences were still required to disclose the conviction when applying for certain jobs or visas.

Equality Australia chief executive officer Anna Brown said an apology would help address stigma and discrimination experienced by LGBT people going forward as well as highlighting the extinguishment laws.

“It would also bring attention to the schemes across the country which allow people, mostly gay and bisexual men, to have their historical convictions cleared from their records,” she said.

NSW opposition leader Chris Minns said the treatment of gay men had caused serious harm and said he was willing to work across the next parliament on an apology.

“NSW has recognised some of the harm done through the apology to the 78ers and Labor supported the laws that were passed to allow people convicted to have those convictions extinguished,” he said.

“I would be willing to work across the next parliament on an apology.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk apologised to people charged under historic gay sex offences in 2017.

When The Australian asked the office of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet if he’d apologise to gay men caught through police entrapment and imprisoned, a NSW government spokesperson responded.

“The NSW Government is committed to supporting our LGBTIQ people and communities across NSW,” said the spokesperson.

“There is still work to [be] done to address historical injustices and help to bring some form of closure and healing to those affected.”

Sydney is expected to host an estimated 1.2 million revellers over World Pride, which starts on February 17 and is likely to inject more than $800 million into the city’s economy.

Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore said she strongly supported calls for both the NSW government and NSW Police to apologise for their past actions against gay men.

“It would be very meaningful for the many men who were wrongly arrested and convicted,” she said.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said police had apologised in 2016 and 2018 and were co-operating fully with the inquiry into gay hate crimes currently underway in NSW.

“The NSW Police Force made public apologies in 2016 and 2018, acknowledging the difficult past shared with our LGBTIQ+ communities,” he said.

“We prioritise the ongoing commitment to build and maintain relationships with the community, to ensure a safe environment is provided for every person.”

You can learn more at The Greatest Menace