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Dowson Turco Lawyers commends LGBTI hate crime inquiry

Sydney-based Dowson Turco Lawyers has welcomed a NSW parliamentary inquiry into historical LGBTI hate crimes in NSW, which will include the response of the state’s justice system.

user iconGrace Ormsby 24 September 2018 Politics
LGBTI community
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The NSW Legislative Council’s standing committee on social issues has announced the inquiry, which will look at institutional responses to gay and transgender hate crimes committed in NSW between 1970 and 2010.

Dowson Turco has highlighted its representation of Alan Rosendale, who was violently assaulted in 1989 at a gay beat near South Dowling Street.

An independent witness had recorded the number plate of the vehicle carrying the perpetrators, with later confirmation of the vehicle belonging to the NSW Police Force.

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In a statement, the firm said the inquiry should investigate Mr Rosendale’s matter “from all angles”.

Dowson Turco Lawyers partner Nicholas Stewart said the firm commends NSW Parliament’s inquiry into the gay and transgender hate crimes committed historically in the state.

Mr Stewart said, “So many victims of this epidemic of LGBTIQ hatred have not received the treatment they would have received had they not been LGBTIQ.”

He highlighted that “one victim’s mother wrote repeatedly to the NSW Police Force asking for it to investigate her son’s disappearance, but her multiple letters over many years were ignored”.

“It’s time to look at the past wrongs of our justice agencies and ensure not only that they are put right, but are never made again,” Mr Stewart said.

He extended “gratitude to members of the NSW Parliament, particularly those who helped bring about this inquiry”.

Those members include Shayne Mallard, Trevor Kahn, Alex Greenwich, Jenny Leong and Penny Sharpe.

“Their leadership means a lot for the survivors, their loved ones, the families of victims and the broader LGBTI community,” Mr Stewart said.

“DTL has campaigned for this inquiry for many years.”

Mr Stewart expressed his gratefulness “to our friends in the NSW Parliament but also those friends within ACON as well as Rick Feneley, Susie Thompson, Steve Page, Duncan McNab and Stephen Tomsen”.

The inquiry comes after the May release of an AIDS Council of NSW (ACON) report In Pursuit of Truth & Justice that considered suspected anti-gay homicides across the state between the 1970s and 1990s. It recommended an independent inquiry to explore the extent of historical violence experienced by the LGBTI community.

Last week, Lawyers Weekly reported on the West Australian decision to expunge historical homosexual convictions

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