Man arrested on Oxford St for assault after making homophobic slurs

Man arrested on Oxford St for assault after making homophobic slurs
Image: (Image credit: Ann-Marie Calilhanna; Star Observer)

A MAN was arrested for allegedly punching another man in the face after hurling homophobic slurs in a bar on Oxford St.

Just after midnight this morning a 26-year-old man from Western Australia was at a licensed premises in Surry Hills when he allegedly made homophobic remarks to another patron.

A 34-year-old man confronted the 26-year-old who then allegedly made another homophobic remark and punched the man in the face.

The 26-year-old man was arrested a short time later on Little Oxford St and taken to Surry Hills Police Station where he was charged with common assault.

He was refused bail to appear at Central Local Court today.

Police took photos of the victim’s injuries, which consisted of pain and bleeding from his nose and around his mouth/teeth.

Superintendent Tony Crandell, Corporate Sponsor for Sexuality and Gender Diversity and Surry Hills Commander, said he could not understand why someone would go to the LGBTI precinct on Oxford St to be homophobic.

“It doesn’t make sense someone would come to Surry Hills and behave this way. I thought we would be beyond that,” Supt Crandell told Star Observer.

“I have some CCTV footage from the event that I’m going to have a look at. But we were keen to get him in front of our court today because he’s going back to WA in a couple of days, and we wanted him to face the court before he was out of our jurisdiction.

“Homophobic abuse and assaults can take place anywhere and it is important to report incidents to the police.

“There are 12 GLLOs (LGBTI Liaison Officers) currently at Surry Hills who are there to support victims of homophobic violence and any other crime. Surry Hills is an LGBTI friendly area and we are determined to keep it that way.”

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2 responses to “Man arrested on Oxford St for assault after making homophobic slurs”

  1. what crandell said is making me think. is it about punching or behaving nasty in a “correct” location that would make sense? No matter where it is, it should be zero tolerance for this behaviour as gay men have 100% equal life as other herterosexual ppl regardless an area being labelled “gay friendly” or not. If the mentality is about differentiating whether an area being gay friendly or not, we are making the gay population be like a second class citizens in this country.
    WA man did this in surry hill, it could be another tourist / visitor who has no idea about areas in Sydney doing the same awful thing. it shouldn’t be a focus on areas, it should be a focus on saying “no” to this behaviour.
    I did read the words a couple of times, thought it’s just interesting.

    Glad the WA man was arrested. A good lesson for him to learn. Hopefully punishment is the next to come.