In 1989 as Western Australia’s politicians approached the landmark move of decriminalising homosexuality the state’s daily newspaper The West Australian pleaded for them to keep the ban in place.
In an editorial the newspaper claimed the move that would remove laws that made male same-sex activity an offence punishable by prison sentences would lead to
The newspaper said, “While no community can ever hop to stamp out homosexuality, it remains a supremely unacceptable aberration with an unhappy capacity to corrupt, and deserves no concessions.”
The newspaper said elected members of parliament were only supporting the bill because it was an “easy option” and to “spare us from accusations of repression and from the shrill indignation of the ‘gay’ lobby.”
In the opinion of The West Australian gay couples should be satisfied with the police no actively pursuing the enforcement of the law, but removing the law was a step too far. The view of the newspaper was that gay couples should keep their relationships out of sight and behind close doors.
The newspaper also said arguments that decriminalising homosexuality would lead to reduced discrimination and stugma, and assist in tackling the AIDS crisis were unconvincing.
They described the LGBTIQA+ community as having an “ugly face” that included depraved encounters in public bathrooms and a desire to hold “so-called gay Mardi Gras”.
Former Democrats senator, and national spokesperson for Just.Equal, Brian Greig, questioned the publications failure to ever offer an apology for their editorial.
Thirty two later the media group SevenWest through it’s Sunday Times publication had become the major sponsor of PrideFEST, that “so-called Gay Mardi Gras” that emerged in the years after the laws were passed.
The laws were further updated in 2002 to remove standardise the age of consent between heterosexual and homosexual sexual activity, gay sex had remained illegal to those under the age of twenty one. Many other areas of discrimination in the law were also removed.
In 2017 Premier Mark McGowan made a historic apology to for the laws that had criminalised homosexuality and the state introduced a scheme to remove historical convictions from people’s records.
In 2021, three years after OUTinPerth first approached the newspaper about the historic editorial, then-editor Anthony De Ceglie said the views expressed by the newspaper in 1989 no longer reflected their stance today, but he stopped short of apologising.
“This editorial from 32 years ago is another reminder of how far we have come as a newspaper and as a community”
“The West Australian was under different ownership in 1989, and the hateful language and sentiment of this editorial certainly does not reflect our company’s culture or values under my watch.
“Seven West Media (WA) is an inclusive workplace, a proud partner of Pride WA and a passionate supporter of the LGBTIQA+ community.” De Ceglie said.
