The Catholic priest who started the movement to abolish the "gay panic" defence in Queensland said he was relieved the "long, emotional journey" had ended.
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On Tuesday night, a bill to remove the partial defence from Queensland law was passed in Parliament, leaving Father Paul Kelly "relieved and exhausted".
It all started back in July 2008, when Wayne Ruks was bashed and killed in Father Kelly's Maryborough church grounds.
The men who killed Mr Ruks were convicted of manslaughter rather than murder when the "gay panic" defence was invoked.
One month later, hitchhiker Stephen Ward was bashed to death and his body dumped in bushland near Maryborough.
Mr Ward's attacker told the court the hitchhiker had made a homosexual pass at him just moments before he was bashed to death.
Father Kelly was disgusted by both cases, starting a Change.org petition that gained almost 290,000 signatures, making it one of the biggest the website had hosted.
"I said to myself, what's going on here and what are the chances of it happening twice?" he said.
Father Kelly said his heart went out to Mr Ruks' mother after seeing her on the steps of the courthouse during the trial.
He said the mother was forced to deny accusations in court that her son was gay, responding to the claims by saying her son had a girlfriend.
Five years ago, Father Kelly started his campaign.
He said both sides of politics initially believed "gay panic" wasn't an issue, then they acknowledged its existence but said they didn't know what to do about it.
Eventually, the bill to abolish the partial defence was introduced in November 2016, before being passed on Tuesday evening.
"I'm grateful to the government and opposition for supporting it," Father Kelly said.
"It sends a very clear message that everyone is equal under the law.
"So many people from the church and wider community have been so supportive of this issue, it's about human rights and justice."
Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said many people in the LGTBI community had been waiting for the change for a long time.
"I know Father Paul Kelly, who stood up with me when I announced the introduction of this bill, is very pleased," she said.
"This is about finally addressing an error in the law, or a flaw in the law."
Father Kelly said the abolition of the "gay panic" defence meant that it could no longer be used "to muddy the waters and tap into ignorance".
However, his fight didn't end on Tuesday, with the "gay panic" defence still existing in South Australia.
Father Kelly said his campaign had stretched to South Australia and he called on the government once again to follow suit.
