The end for OutWestMen
The organisers of western suburbs gay male support/social group OutWestMen have announced it will no longer operate.
A statement emailed to members and posted on their website this week said it could not continue “due to various reasons, both professional and personal”.
The organisers also sought to alleviate privacy concerns by announcing that all contact details for members would be deleted.
The group had their first gathering on July 8, 2006 at the Exit Inn, (now called the Junction Hotel), instigated to gauge interest and ideas over a beer. Organisers were surprised when more than 70 men turned up.
The Commercial Hotel in Yarraville eventually became the group’s home. Eventually, over 260 men signed up to its mailing list.
Convenor Neville Flegg told Southern Star Observer the workload became too much for him and fellow organisers, but the option remained open for other interested parties to take over OutWestMen.
“I’m open to other people taking it on, but unfortunately we no longer have the email addresses of members because we promised we wouldn’t retain them if the group was discontinued,” he said.
“For guys still keen to be part of that community of western suburbs gay men, I’d say support the Commercial Hotel, who have been wonderful to us in recent years.”
info: Read the full statement at www.outwestmen.org
