Market mainstay says goodbye

John Wain has been a fixture on Melbourne’s gay scene for more than two decades, working in many of the city’s best-known queer venues — including a role as general manager of the Market for the past decade.

Wain, who recently resigned from his position at the Market and had his last shift on Sunday, told Southern Star he was now looking forward to enjoying some of life’s simple pleasures — working on his home renovations and getting to bed before sunrise included.

“I’ll probably stay home for a little while, have a bit of a re-group and think about what’s next. I’ve been so entrenched in the venue that I felt I needed to take myself out of it for a while and have a break,” he said.

Wain’s announcement has been met with an outpouring of affection: the ‘John Wain Appreciation’ Facebook group set up in recent weeks had more than 160 members at last count, all sharing their memories and well-wishes for Wain — and raising funds to give him a proper send-off.

“I don’t even go on Facebook, so I haven’t really had my eye on it, but it’s lovely. I’m a bit more of a behind-the-scenes person, but I guess I’ve been involved in the scene for so many years that people have come to know me. Before the Market it was 3 Faces, the Laird, the Peel; it’s been about 22 years in Melbourne’s gay scene all up.”

As general manager at the Market, Wain has no doubt seen most of Melbourne’s homos at the tail-end of a big night at some time or another. Surely he’s got some dirt to spill.

Perhaps this new surplus of free time could be spent penning a salacious tell-all memoir?

“Yes, everyone had better beware! That’s just part of the environment, seeing people in their inebriated states. But I definitely have a few stories I could tell.”