Beat Alert
The Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project has warned gay men to stay clear of Marks Park, Tamarama, for some time, after it was outed as a beat in an issue of The Daily Telegraph this week.
Anti-Violence Project (AVP) coordinator Brad Gray told Sydney Star Observer that there appeared to be a connection between media comment on the location of beats and subsequent violent activity at the same locations.
Although Gray said a direct link could not be proved, the Anti-Violence project received a number of reports of harassment and violence at some Sydney beats several months ago after radio DJ Steve Price named their location on air.
It’s a case we can’t prove, but the message is -˜Don’t use Marks Park for a while’, Gray said.
The AVP suspects that there is currently more violence at beats than is being reported, Gray said. In 1993, 17 percent of all reports to the AVP concerned beat activity, while that figure dropped to just 3 percent last year, he said.
The Daily Telegraph’s front-page story on Monday, titled Linked by Hate, revealed that between January 1987 and July 1990, six men were either found dead or went missing near known beats. The beats named were Marks Park (Tamarama), Alison Park (Randwick) and Alexandria Park (Alexandria).
