Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has apologised for the “abominable” historical laws that made homosexuality punishable with jail.
“I can’t possibly explain why we made these laws and clung to them and fought for them,” Andrews told parliament on Tuesday.
“For decades, we were obsessed with the private mysteries of men. And so we jailed them, we harmed them, and in turn, they harmed themselves.”
The laws were repealed in the 1980s but the premier said criminal records remain against the names of many men.
He apologised to those men who were no longer alive who would have these convictions “engraved upon their place in history”.
The apology comes after Victoria recently allowed those with convictions to have them expunged.
Andrews said the crime of “loitering with homosexual intent” in effect made being gay a thought crime. “It has become clear to me the state also persecuted against homosexual thought,” he said.
A man who was convicted of homosexual crimes after his boss raped him when he was just 14 said the apology was an acknowledgement he did nothing wrong.
Tom Anderson went to the police to report his boss for rape but he ended up being charged with gross indecency and buggery.
He went before the children’s court in 1977 and was told to plead guilty and apologise for his perverted acts.
“I actually had no idea what was happening to me. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on,” Anderson told KIIS radio on Tuesday.
“To me it’s going to be a big acknowledgement, that finally a formal apology, a formal statement saying that I did nothing wrong,” Anderson said.
Anderson, now in his mid-50s, has lived his whole life trying to work out what he did wrong, and why he was charged for reporting his sexual assault.
“I think a lot of young people today would really fail to comprehend ... there are still people alive who have suffered the indignity of being charged with [the] crimes,” Anderson said.
Six men have successfully applied to have their records expunged, with many others going through the process.
Equality minister Martin Foley said he hoped the apology would encourage other people, who have declined to have their records expunged, to reconsider.
Opposition leader Matthew Guy said he had heard some horrific stories of people who had been convicted for something that should not have been a crime.
“Australia post-war was a very, very intolerant place towards gay people, particularly gay men, and today we’re going to apologise for that,” Guy told reporters before parliament.
The rainbow flag is flying over Victoria’s Parliament House, and a group of men convicted under the old laws were in the gallery to watch the apology.
Premiê de Victoria, Austrália, Daniel Andrews, ao falar no Parlamento ontem, pediu desculpas à história do estado de leis 'abomináveis' em que o homossexualismo poderia ser punido com pena de prisão.

"Durante décadas, fomos obcecados com os mistérios particulares dos homens. E assim nós preso-los, nós lesados, e por sua vez, eles próprios prejudicados", disse Andrews.

Ele observou que, embora essas leis ainda não estão em vigor desde a década de 1980, muitos ainda têm antecedentes criminais por causa deles. Muitos estão tentando limpar seus registros; Até agora, seis concluíram o processo.

De acordo com a Comissão Australiana de Direitos Humanos, 11 em 100 australianos identificam como sendo uma parte da comunidade de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Trans e Intersex. Eles têm tripla taxa da população geral de depressão, e seis em cada dez admitem que foram agredidos verbalmente.

O líder da oposição victoriano Matthew Guy disse anteriormente, "Austrália pós-guerra foi um lugar muito, muito intolerantes com as pessoas homossexuais, homens particularmente gay e hoje vamos pedir desculpas por isso."

Seu pedido de desculpas segue uma no início deste ano pelo parlamento Nova Gales do Sul para os primeiros manifestantes Sydney Gay e Lésbico Mardi Gras em 1978, esse pedido de desculpas liderado pelo membro de Coogee, Bruce Notley-Smith.