Nicole Skews-Poole might be a distant cousin of Aberhart, but last week’s proceedings in the Christchurch Youth Court still felt close to home.
The 37-year-old from Blenheim, who was in town to drive his mother to a wedding, was felled by a punch at a toilet block in the park.
Although they confessed to police, and were charged with manslaughter, the teenagers were found not guilty by a Supreme Court jury after a five-day trial.
Aberhart’s case was subsequently considered a miscarriage of justice, and a touchstone for the gay rights movement in New Zealand.
Skews-Poole would not be drawn on the punishment handed down to the teenagers responsible for last year’s spate of attacks on gay men, though the case reopened old wounds.
“Obviously this is an echo of what happened to Allan,” she said.
“One of the recent victims (Kelly Hopkins) spoke at Allan’s memorial last month, and it’s clear that while we’ve come far in some regards, we haven’t come far enough.
“Sixty years on, gay men are still being subjected to homophobic hate crimes using planned, organised, predatory methods by attackers.”
About 80 people attended the memorial for Aberhart at the scene of his death on January 23, during which a fund in his name was announced to support victims of hate crimes.
Details of the Allan Aberhart fund created by his family and the Christchurch Foundation with support of rainbow charity, the Rule Foundation will be released during the city’s LGBTQIA+ Pride celebrations, which start next Friday.
