NCJ Number
196977
Date Published
July 2002
Length
116 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a study of anti-homosexual killings in New South Wales that was conducted in order to expand the knowledge concerning anti-homosexual violence and its distinctive features.
Abstract
The author begins by explaining that there is sparse research concerning the growing phenomenon of anti-homosexual violence. Recent legal defenses of such murders have used the so-called “homosexual advance defense” in which the defendant claims his actions were justified because the victim made a sexual advance toward him. The success of such defenses, coupled with the rising activism against such hate killings has spurred the need for research in this area. Seventy-four anti-homosexual homicides between 1980 and 2000 were researched for this report. Data included trial records, transcripts, and legal records, as well as related interview records. Also under examination for this report were witness statements, docket statements, final judgments, and remarks on sentencing. Finally, information was obtained about unsolved killings from the Sydney Coroner’s Court. This information included post-mortem reports, forensic reports, incident narratives, police exhibits, and recorded interviews with suspects. The author explains that there are two basic scenarios of anti-homosexual killings. In the first scenario, the victim is a stranger to the perpetrator(s) and is attacked in a public space because of the presumption that the victim is a homosexual. The second scenario involves a personal dispute between two people, usually two men, occurring in a private space. The second scenario is far more likely to result in a legal defense that involves the sexual advance justification. The author includes several case studies in this article in order to illustrate the scenarios he puts forth. The social causes of such violence are also under examination in this article. Homophobia, hegemonic masculinity, and homosexual panic are offered as social causes of anti-homosexual violence. The author concludes the study with a look at the criminal justice response to anti-homosexual killings. He contends that homophobia and “masculinism” are still pervasive in Australian courtrooms and that often the victims are portrayed in stereotyped and negative ways. As such, when the defense centers around allegations of a homosexual advance by the victim toward the perpetrator, the courts appear more likely to forgive anti-homosexual violence. Tables, figures, references