Cooma jail, located in one of Australia's coldest and windiest tiny towns, hides a deadly secret. It was believed to be utilized as a human testing ground with the ultimate objective of eliminating homosexuality from society. It was reactivated in 1957 with the explicit intention of incarcerating individuals for "homosexual transgressions."

        According to a recent podcast, Cooma's jail was thought to be the world's only known homosexual prison. Even some jail guards claim they had no idea why LGBT inmates were kept separate until lately. Les Strzelecki, 66, began working in the jail as a correctional services officer in 1979 and later founded the Corrective Services Museum in Cooma. Inmates were put there, he felt, for their own safety.

        "Cooma was a fortified fortress. We'd mark gay inmates with the letter 'N/A,' which stands for "non-association with mainstream jails." "He tells the BBC about it. "At larger facilities like Long Bay [in Sydney], they were at risk of assault." 

        However, Cliff New, a former employee, maintains it was for less humane motives. After the jail reopened in 1957, he told the audio series The Greatest Menace that psychologists and psychiatrists were "coming in all the time." He interpreted these as conversion attempts: "They were attempting to put them on the 'correct' path... They thought they'd be able to help them."

        He also explained why convicts were housed in separate cells. "You wouldn't put two people in the same room... Keeping an eye on them was one of our major issues "Mr. New, who is now 94 years old, adds. According to historical archives, New South Wales (NSW) Justice Minister Reg Downing is credited with founding the jail.

        In 1957, he told the Sydney Morning Herald that he was "proud" of his pet project, saying, "Nowhere in Europe or America did I locate any jails where homosexuals were isolated from ordinary convicts." Mr Downing described Cooma jail as "the only criminal facility in the world, so far as is known, devoted only to the incarceration of gay offenders" in a press release dated 1958.

        Prisoners in Cooma were imprisoned for being gay or for offenses related to homosexuality; homosexuality was not decriminalized in NSW until 1984. The impact of the assassination of a homosexual intellectual Australia. The inaugural Mardi Gras in Sydney was violent, prompting reform.

        In 1955, new severe state laws outlawed homosexuality. They were prompted by pressure from the state's police commissioner, Colin Delaney, who thought "that remedial legislation [was] an urgent requirement to address the evil," according to the then-attorney general. 

        "A guy may be jailed for just talking to another man," historian Garry Wotherspoon tells the BBC. "These legal reforms had a broad impact on the civil freedoms of males suspected of having homoerotic urges." Buggery carries a 14-year prison term. Attempting to bug someone carries a five-year sentence, and in a tougher crackdown, the phrase "with or without the agreement of such person" was added.

        Both Mr. Wotherspoon and the podcast claim instances of police operating as "agents provocateurs" to encourage males to engage in gay behavior. Mr Wotherspoon believes that "they'd deploy handsome cops to entrap homosexual males by tempting them to have sex, frequently in public restrooms."

        The NSW government established a commission to investigate the "cause and treatment of homosexuality" in 1958. A statement stated it will include "experts in the disciplines of health, psychology, penology, and social and moral wellbeing."

        Two religious reverends, two senior correctional system employees, and two University of Sydney professors were among them. Cooma jail is described as a "special facility for convicted gay criminals" that will "ease the inquiry."

        "The government feels that the problem must be handled with vigour," Mr Downing is reported as saying after a "scientific examination of the problem and possible remedy" has been identified. "We do know that doctors addressed questions like 'did your mother's authority produce a hate of other females?' and concluded that 'overmothering' was "a primary cause of homosexuality," says Patrick Abboud, a podcast developer and journalist who has spent years studying the institution.

        "Our podcast exposes gay males in jail maintaining continued relationships, thus we know they failed in their aim to exterminate homosexuality." Some even returned to their boyfriends inside after reoffending." Mr Abboud claims there has been a "cover up" since the illusive report has never been located.

        Mr. Wotherspoon is in agreement. When homosexual convicts were no longer transferred to Cooma is unknown. Mr Wotherspoon claims that "a lot of archives were taken or destroyed." The NSW Department of Communities and Justice and Corrective Services NSW both declined to comment on the claims, citing their "historical character."

        Mr. Abboud thinks gay inmates were brought there until the early 1980s, citing a 1982 statement from the minister of correctional services indicating the program was still in effect. According to Mr Abboud, sex offenders were also brought to Cooma, further stigmatizing gay convicts.

        With the current parliamentary discussion over a Religious Discrimination Bill threatening to legalize discrimination based on sexual orientation, Mr Wotherspoon believes that recent history serves as a sobering warning. "Eternal vigilance is required to guarantee that we do not regress," he continues.