G'day all,

Pretty shocked about this one, given Queensland's recent support for same sex civil unions and the current Premier declaring support for same sex marriage.

Below is an email for a (legitimate!) petition to call on the Queensland's current opposition leader (who is likely to win the next election) to legislate to repeal the case law.

(Yes, before anyone thinks that a government proposed this law, it's case law, so just a precedent set by a good/sleazy defence lawyer who convinced a judge in 97)

I know a lot of online petitions are utter crap, but I have faith in these ones. I've signed a few done via the Marriage Equality people last year, and those were publicly handed to their intended targets - with footage on the news. (eg, the one to the ALP national conference)

I had a bit of a chuckle when I signed it - I was the 5,000th signature. So it's half way - they want 10,000.

I'm also extremely impressed that a Catholic Priest is behind this push! (And even links it on his church's website.)


Below is the content of the letter (I've even inserted the links from the article. It's verbatim - my name isn't Nathan) =p

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“Yeah, I killed him, but he did worse to me.” These are the words of a man who reacted to some “gentle touching” from a gay man by ramming his victim’s head against a wall until he was unrecognisable, and then stabbing him to death (1).

This infamous 1997 case enshrined the “gay panic” defence in Queensland law -- allowing accused murderers to have charges downgraded if their victim was gay and “came onto” them. Just two years ago, a man was brutally killed in Father Paul Kelly’s church yard, and his killers used this same defence. They were subsequently acquitted of murder (2).

Father Kelly was horrified that this argument was even allowed in court, and wrote to the government along with thousands of others -- they didn’t respond. But with the Liberal National Party likely to win power in the March state election, there’s new hope. Father Kelly has started a Change.org petition calling on LNP leader Campbell Newman to abolish the law if he’s elected, and insiders say the party is already wavering.

If 10,000 people sign Father Kelly’s petition, his local member and senior LNP member Ted Sorensen has promised to take it to Parliament. Sign the petition now.

A recent study named Queensland as Australia’s most homophobic state, and anti-gay violence is reportedly on the rise (3). Laws like the “gay panic” defence are a crucial part of legitimising and reinforcing a culture which means that 73% of gay and lesbian Queenslanders are subjected to verbal abuse or physical violence for their sexuality (4)

While fierce community opposition has convinced almost all other state governments to abolish similar laws, the outcry has fallen on deaf ears in Queensland. It’s now one of the last states upholding the idea that a person can be panicked enough by gay and lesbian people to justify murder. Thousands like Father Kelly are fed up with the inaction -- it’s the perfect moment for Newman to take a stand and promise to deliver where the current government has failed.

Click here to join Father Kelly and make sure “gay panic” is never an excuse for murder.

This could be the best chance Queensland will have for years to fix what law expert Alan Berman calls a “repulsive and dangerous partial defence”. If thousands of people speak out now, it will force Newman to commit to closing the loophole -- and take meaningful steps towards reducing discrimination and violence towards gay and lesbian people in Queensland.

Stand with Father Kelly and tell Campbell Newman this outdated “gay panic” law has no place in a modern society.

Thanks for being part of this,

Nathan and the Change.org team


[1] Courier Mail, “Law says it's not murder if the victim is gay and ''comes on to you''


[2] Brisbane Times, “Men jailed over churchyard 'homosexual' bashing death”


[3] Anti-gay violence on the rise

and Queensland Australia’s most homophobic state


[4] Dr Alan Berman, legal expert and co-author of a study into homophobic violence in Queensland

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Please sign and spread the word.

For those wanting to repost on FA, I've saved a copy of the text above with all of the url tags etc in it. Just download This text file and copy it into your journal ^.^

(There's no links back to me in it; it's the verbatim letter. This is about promoting the petition, not some glory trip)


Please note: If you're opening it in notepad or something, please turn off "Word Wrap" before you cut/copy, otherwise the formatting will get screwy and not work for you.