Duncan death remembered

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of law lecturer George Duncan, whose body was found in the River Torrens, Adelaide in 1972, after he was attacked near a known beat area.

Duncan, who had only arrived in Australia from England several weeks earlier, was set upon as he was walking near the University of Adelaide’s footbridge. He was thrown into the river and drowned.

The incident sparked outrage and led to South Australia becoming the first state to fully decriminalise homosexuality in 1975.

No one has ever been convicted of Duncan’s death, although rumours have constantly swirled that the perpetrators may have been police officers.

South Australian Greens MLC Tammy Franks said discrimination against LGBT people still exists in the state and further reform is needed.

“Dr Duncan was the victim of a hate crime — a callous, homophobic attack,” Franks said.

“Unbelievably, despite substantial changes to the law and marked improvements in the tolerance and acceptance shown to LGBTI people over the last four decades, many people still face prejudice, discrimination and in the worst cases, persecution and violence as a result of their gender, or sexual orientation.

“There are still many more issues to be addressed in order to achieve full equality for the LGBTI community in SA, including equal marriage laws, strengthening anti-discrimination and anti-vilification laws, and removing the archaic ‘gay panic defence’ to murder as Queensland has already done.”