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Hundreds rally against homophobic violence

Shelly Dahl, Sydney

1 February 2008

Several hundred people participated in a January 26 rally against homophobic violence in Harmony Park, next to the Surry Hills police station. The rally was called after the brutal assault in Oxford Street of Craig Gee and his partner Shane Brennan in December was met with an inadequate police response. Gee was left with a broken leg and serious facial injuries.

Oxford Street is traditionally seen as a queer-friendly area, however there has been a dramatic increase in homophobic violence in recent months and police have been accused of not taking these attacks seriously.

Adding controversy to the issue, a number of people in the queer community have focussed on the fact that some of the attackers have been Aboriginal and have launched racist attacks on Aboriginal people. Some of the publicity material for the rally used images reminiscent of white-supremacist propaganda.

As a result, the rally was almost cancelled, but went ahead with many people carrying Aboriginal flags (alongside the ubiquitous pink Australian flag marking “Australia Day”) to show their support for Aboriginal rights as well as their opposition to homophobic violence.