Homophobic graffiti in Sydney shocks gay newlyweds
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A Sydney couple who had just returned from their New Zealand wedding were shocked to see homophobic graffiti in their home city.
Scott McKeown and Bryce Kerr were driving through Alexandria when they saw the slogan ‘bash a gay today’ spray painted on a building.
“I was totally stunned that it was there,” said McKeown.
The couple suspect the apparent recent increase in hate speech is related to the marriage equality debate.
“We hadn’t seen crap like that for years until this bullshit so-called postal survey,” said Kerr.
The men said they were “gutted” by the graffiti.
“As a former Australian serviceman of 13 years I felt embarrassed to see this type of rhetoric in my own country,” said McKeown.
“In New Zealand, everyone was supportive from start to finish.”
McKeown is concerned that the anti-LGBTI sentiments surfacing as part of the national debate will be harmful to the community.
“Without the postal vote for marriage equality, it would still be homophobic and hateful, but now it’s critical,” he said.
“As people are being asked to vote, I have little doubt that graffiti like this will embolden bigots or unaware youth to attack [LGBTI community members].
“We already know young teenagers commit suicide due to fear of coming out or being picked on when they do, this will harm them as well.”
McKeown and Kerr photographed the homophobic graffiti so they could report it to their local MPs.
Police needs to work on this as a serious matter and see what Australian laws say in this regard – as this is a big threat to people in the community in Australia and also this threat is sending a message of encouraging more people to join to commit crime – this is so wrong and so dangerous! No one in this country should feel fearful or unsafe for simply being who they are or the differences they have. Everyone was born with their self identity to develop naturally thru out the years and so they deserve a life of being who they are naturally supposed to be.