Clover Moore Announces Plans For A LGBT+ Safety Summit In Response To Homophobia On Oxford Street
The Lord Mayor for the City of Sydney council, Clover Moore has announced her plans for a State-wide LGBTIQA+ Local Government Safety Summit and plans to bring this up at the next council meeting.
Moore is planning on collaborating with ACON and Local Government NSW to help protect the community in response the ongoing rise of anti-lgbtq+ sentiment.
In a Facebook post, Moore stated that she was “horrified to hear another example of homophobic behaviour in the city.”
“Sydney is the LGBTQIA+ capital of Australia, and I am proud to be an ally and supporter of the rainbow community,” she wrote, in response to an article that the Star Observer had published about the anti-gay preachers on Oxford Street.
“Next week, at Council I will be calling for a State-wide LGBTIQA+ Local Government Safety Summit to be held jointly with ACON and Local Government NSW.”
“WorldPride Sydney showed the world how proudly diverse and inclusive we are. These recent events show there is still more work to do to achieve true equity for all.”
Noir Sydney Blamed For Rise In Homophobia
Oxford Street has seen an ongoing rise in anti-lgbtq+ sentiment, with the queer community facing both verbal and physical abuse. And while police have increased their presence on Oxford Street, many in the community fear this isn’t enough.
Many have blamed the opening of the nightclub Noir and accused it of being a magnet for homophobic patrons.
The nightclub has been plagued with complaints from drag queens and members of the LGBTQ+ community, with one incident involving a security guard denying a trans woman and a drag queen access to the toilets.
Drag Queen Kiama Blowhole spoke with the Star Observer about the negative experiences she has when she walks by the club on her way home from work.
“My experience from noir has been nothing but negative, just from walking by the club on my way to a shift at the bar I work at I’ve received abuse thrown at me in the form of homophobic hate comments from their patrons waiting in line,” she said.
“I’ve had dozen[s] of friends who have had the same situation happen to them if not worse.”
A petition to have Noir shut down and banned from Oxford Street has reached 901 signatures at the time of writing.
Star Observer reached out to Noir Sydney for comment.
Once the Sydney nightlife was clearly segregated. The straights had the city and Kings Cross and the gays had Oxford St. Since the gentrification of the Cross, and the council policy of making it ” still naughty but nice”, has resulted much of the Cross venues closing down. Fact is – Oxford St patrons are now a very mixed crowd. I often walk down Oxford St on a Friday and Saturday night and I’m amazed how straight it is. Sure violence and harassments is never acceptable, but the idea that Oxford St is still exclusively gay is a fantasy. Even a club like Universal are heavily mixed. Those days are long gone. The only option is to had police patrols. Yes close down Noir. Maybe it’s time for the council and NSW government to allow venues to be exclusively gay – similar to the Lair in Melbourne.
My spouse and I stumbled over here coming from a different web address and
thought I should check things out. I like what I see so now i’m
following you. Look forward to exploring your web page for a second time.