Decriminalisation of Homosexuality 50th Anniversary

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (15:54): Next year will be the 50^th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in South Australia. The last time I spoke on this matter, I mentioned some of the ugly language that was used to dehumanise homosexuals in the debates in this house and the other place about 50 years ago. Scanning through the Hansard from 1972 to 1975, one reads that gay men were sick, corrupted or corrupting, perverted and sought to 'spread' their homosexuality. The Hon. Boyd Dawkins MLC stated:

The Bill will make it easier for people to carry on with their homosexual practices [well, hear, hear to that!] and it will make it immeasurably harder, if not impossible, to stem the tide and to keep a check on the spread of such practices in the community.

The Hon. Keith Russack MP stated:

I cannot accept that homosexual acts are anything but unnatural; they are not physically and mentally correct.

The Hon. Thomas Casey MLC stated:

Removal of legal sanctions would make it easier for homosexuals to attract, persuade, dare or use some other means to cause other people to adopt their way of life. It is an unfortunate fact of life that it is the weak and the immature who fall easy prey to the unscrupulous.

The Hon. Leslie Hart MLC stated:

The primary purpose of the imposition of criminal sanctions against homosexual acts is to enforce the wish of society that these practices be curbed, and, in particular, to protect minors from any ill effects which might stem from the existence of homosexuality within the community.

The Hon. Peter Duncan MP stated:

The first thing to which I want to refer is the question of homosexuals who are living together adopting children. I find that quite abhorrent and I oppose it strongly.

These comments frame the debate that ultimately led to decriminalisation. While we can celebrate the victory—and I do and I am grateful for it—we must also recognise how mired in bigotry that success was. You would think after 50 years of decriminalisation, society has moved on past those sentiments, and in many ways it has. Who would have thought a few short years ago, almost two-thirds of Australians would have voted in support of gay marriage?

But on a sadder note, a week ago or just over a week ago, what should have been a happy and joyous occasion where Sam Kerr, captain of the Matildas—I think they are some sort of sporting outfit—and her partner, Kristie Mewis, recently announced they were expecting a child together and that announcement was sullied with comments from online trolls: 'She isn't actually having the baby, nor is she the father', 'Just find the man who got you pregnant and marry him?', 'One of them went out and played up and came home knocked up.' Little wonder after that social media contribution, that the couple, Sam and Kristie, decided to turn off social media comments.

Ugly language encourages ugly actions. In fact, I think it is actually designed to do just that. On 10 November, a gay couple walking down Rundle Mall was attacked by three men—10 November this year. The attackers unleashed a barrage of homophobic abuse before repeatedly punching both men, twice breaking the jaw of one of the men and bruising the face and legs of the other, whilst onlookers did nothing, no intervention, although some of them, I think, recorded it on their iPhones. As reported in The Advertiser, the couple said:

This is horrible and the pain is 10/10…I'm afraid to go down the street because someone will hit me again.

So are these the terrifying homosexual acts that past parliamentarians warned us about 50 years ago: having a baby with the one you love, walking down the street holding the hand of the man you love? This is where we find ourselves 50 years on from that great legislative progress that our antecedents did in this place, while at the same time anti-gay commentary proliferates in social media and in our social discourse. These are the effects of that: online hate and more bashings.

The job for those of us who champion personal and human rights in this place is not yet done. Let's commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexual sex joyfully and gratefully. I know the Hon. Robert Simms will be and I know that I will be, but let's not pretend that we have arrived at the journey's end. We still have work to do as legislators and as a community. For every generation of young people to come who will embark on the same journey of self-discovery that we ourselves went through, working out who they are and who they love, we owe it to them to try to make the experience a little bit easier, a lot more joyous and a whole lot more safe.