Brisbane IDAHOT rally marred by incident involving police

Brisbane IDAHOT rally marred by incident involving police
Image: Image by: Brendan Burke.

QUEENSLAND Police officers who were at a peaceful Brisbane marriage equality rally over the weekend as a sign of support were forced to leave after a member of the Socialist Alternative allegedly verbally “ambushed” them.

LGBTI rights group Equal Love Brisbane held the latest of their marriage equality and anti-homophobia rallies last Saturday to coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT).

At the rally, a leading member of Equal Love who is also affiliated with the Socialist Alternative, was accused by witnesses for allegedly questioning the attendance of two on-duty uniformed police LGBTI liaison officers. It is understood that this person allegedly approached the two officers in an “aggressive and in your face” manner and raised their voice when asking what they were doing there, before allegedly telling them they were not invited to the rally and not welcome.

The officers left shortly afterwards without confrontation or any action being taken. The Star Observer understands the two police officers attended the rally as a goodwill gesture in a peaceful manner. They had attended an IDAHOT event held earlier in the day at New Farm Park, hosted by community support and advocacy groups with appearances by bi-partisan political representatives from local and state governments.

The news of the alleged incident at the rally made its way to social media later that day.

“The Socialist Alternative are shocking, they’re a pest at every rally they attend… they’re there purely to push their own agenda. Disgusting,” one post read.

“Appalling. Again with the Socialist Alternative stepping in and tarnishing the rallies.”

There were also messages in support of the officers.

“[The officer] had every right to be there on duty if that was their job for the day or off duty. Adversarial behaviour helps no one,” one post read.

Another posted: “Perhaps it would be easier for the organisers of Equal Love Brisbane… to tell everyone who they don’t want to attend the rallies.”

However, one Socialist Alternative member and Equal Love Brisbane co-convenor Kat Henderson responded to the discussion on social media by posting: “I’m not for cops at Equal Love rallies… I was disturbed to see police walking around at an LGBTI rights rally. I doubt [the officers] were even invited.”

Despite this, some social media users highlighted that the views of some Socialist Alternative members did not speak for the entire Equal Love movement.

Former Equal Love committee member Dylan Carmichael — who raised concerns of the group’s involvement in LGBTI rallies after a sign featuring Tony Abbott in a rainbow noose was displayed at a rally last December — told the Star Observer: “It’s a shame to yet again see such antisocial behaviour from the Socialist Alternative, yet again overshadowing the good and valuable work that Equal Love does.”

Equal Love Brisbane organiser Jessica Payne said she did not witness the incident and could not comment on the claims but said the rights group was overall happy with how the day went.

“Equal Love Brisbane was very pleased with the number of people who rallied yesterday — over 400 — and the overall positive mood of the day,” she told the Star Observer.

“The theme of IDAHOT ‘free expression’ was taken to the streets in a ‘Minute Of Noise’ to commemorate all those who have fought for LGBTI rights. It seemed to be the highlight for many participants. We look forward to organising further successful events and continuing the campaign for marriage equality in the coming months.”

Main image: Scene from last weekend’s marriage equality and anti-homophobia rally in Brisbane. Photo: Brendan Burke

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12 responses to “Brisbane IDAHOT rally marred by incident involving police”

  1. Dear lords this is so stupid!
    Yay for the cops showing up and wanting to be either a part of it or witness it. This is what many generations before us never thought possible. Police and LGBTI & allies standing together without aggression.

    You go QLD Police!

  2. Having been a volunteer representing our communities at Police Recruit training in Melbourne, I am very disappointed that LGBTI Liaison Officers were not welcomed at the Brisbane Rally and some people found them intimidating. These are officers who have trained to be responsive to our needs, to support their fellow officers to understand us and most pertinently, to advocate for us when their colleagues do not initially respond to us in a fair way.

    It is understandable if someone is out of touch with our growing relationships with police and is instead overwhelmed by past poor experiences. What is not acceptable is for a co-convenor of Equal Love like Kat Henderson not to welcome police to participate in uniform in their rally.

    We need equality of policing more than we need marriage equality. Fair treatment is only going to be all pervasive within policing if we allow them to understand us, our diversity and our situation. People fought hard for police liaison officers and we must nurture these relationships by endorsing them publically with trust and welcome.

    Marriage equality rallies around the country should 1) specifically and publically invite police liaison officers and their colleagues to attend in uniform 2) formally acknowledge their attendance as honour guests who work for the equality of our community 3) formally acknowledge the work of the police who attend the rally for crowd and traffic control as facilitators of our right to protest; and 4) encourage participants to respect police and our communities’ relationship with them.

    Eric Glare, speaker and volunteer, Positive Speakers Bureau, Living Positive Victoria (personal opinion).

  3. I think on duty police officers in uniform can easily be perceived as a little intimidating at events like this.

    What essentially is happening is a protest that is promoting a change in the nation’s laws that the police are supposedly enforcing. It’s a confusing message for them to be there in a supportive role. I’d like to know what these officers said back to the kids who were questioning their attendance? They seriously just left? Need a little more depth to this report.

    I know the socialist alliance can be feisty at times but so can the police. Keep your eyes on the prize Star Observer ;)

  4. I too have been in a rally that was hijacked by leftist elements and it is disheartening but often they come with their own P.A. system.
    My suggestion is that with hindsight the more moderate members should have surrounded the serving members and shown support. What I have noticed is that despite the Alternative people being loud and aggressive they are often small in number so rally organisers should skill moderate majority to isolate them when they become rude and aggressive. The media would be quick to pick up on that.

  5. Your occupation does not exclude you from any part of the Queer community when you come as an ally. Sure, the police in this and many other countries have a long history of bad interactions with LGBTIQ communities, but in order for that to change both sides have to be willing. To me police showing up in support of marriage equality is exactly what we want, a police force that SUPPORTS us rather than harasses us. It always starts with a few, just a couple people crossing the space between the lines to join us, and others follow. Unfortunately when we treat allies with such disdain because of preconceived notions about those individuals based on what we see them wearing (in this case uniforms), we are tearing down our own progress as we make it.

  6. The LGBIT liaison officers were there to show support, not to “police” the rally. It’s appalling that their goodwill was so rudely and and aggressively rejected by some – I know that their presence was welcomed by many there.

  7. The police officers werent invited? rubbish. These rallies are open to everyone who supports us. If we are able to uninvite groups, Socialist Alt, consider yourselves officially uninvited until your attitude improves.

  8. What are radical lefties doing supporting a conservative institution like marriage? Shouldn’t be too hard to call their bluff.

  9. You can count me as another person who doesn’t attend rallies for this very reason – rallies and protests being hijacked by the Socialist Alternative.

  10. Equal Love Brisbane IS Socialist Alternative!
    I no longer support ELB. If they want to be a socialist alternative, anti-Abbott, LNP hate group, be that. Just don’t try and disguise it as a marriage equality group.

  11. THIS is why many LGBT people and organisations I know do not attend the equal love events anymore. The activists are aggressive, arrogant and antagonistic. They’re giving the general LGBT community a bad name and we are being seen as extremists and therefore not being taken seriously by the general public.
    We want equality, not hostility.
    The Brisbane marches for Marriage Equality and equal rights are doing more harm then good as we’re being represented by a bunch of socialist bogans with very few manors. Sadly they’re influencing our younger generation now also. These people represent such a small minority of the gay community, its a joke. Of course their are a number of lovely people, but you rarely hear from them…