On Thursday, NSW Premier Chris Minns will issue a formal state apology to individuals convicted under laws criminalizing homosexuality until 1984. This marks a significant step in acknowledging past injustices and persecution of the LGBTQIA+ community in the state.
On Thursday, New South Wales Premier Chris Minns will deliver a formal state apology to individuals convicted under laws that criminalized homosexuality until their abolition in 1984. The apology will take place in the lower house at 12.15pm, followed by a similar apology from Labor’s Penny Sharpe in the upper house at 2pm. This action comes nearly 40 years after the decriminalization and marks NSW as the last Australian state to offer such an apology.
The apologies acknowledge and express regret for the role of the NSW parliament in enacting laws that persecuted people based on their sexuality and gender. The motion will also recognize the trauma endured by the LGBTQIA+ community and their families.
Prominent attendees include members of the 78ers, who marched in Sydney’s first Mardi Gras in 1978, and gay rights activist Robert French. Jill Wran, widow of former Labor premier Neville Wran who led the decriminalization, will also be present.
The NSW government aims for the apology to bring closure, despite the acknowledgment that it cannot undo past wrongs. This apology follows criticism of previous leadership for resisting such a gesture and comes in the wake of a special inquiry into LGBTQ+ hate crimes.
