Last night Oxford Street was essentially straight, and it wasn't nice at all outside on the strip.
There were horridly drunk straight boys and girls stumbling down the street. We were lucky to have sensible and experienced bouncers at the Stonewall Hotel to keep the nasty ones out.
Mind you, if we didn't have the straight people in the Hotel last night, it would have been a DEAD night. On the most part, the predominately straight crowd we had was actually great fun. In fact it reminded me of the good old days performing at the Albury Hotel. The crowd was very enthusiastic.
Some of them didn't behave well (i.e. sitting on stage DURING shows, putting drinks on the stage DURING shows) and those that caused problems after they were warned about their behaviour, were removed promptly by management and security.
This of course isn't a problem confined to straight people though, as some drunk gay boys have been turfed from Hotels/Clubs before for the very same reasons too!
But where did all the gay boys go?
Well the answer is "Super Fag Tag".
Now don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea to move past the traditional gay territory of Oxford St and Newtown.
The intention of the founder was to get the gays out of the ghetto and into unexplored straight bars. The idea was to give queer party-goers, who were bored with Oxford Street, a whole new experience.
It in turn, I guess, can also be seen as to give a greater exposure of the queer culture in the broader community - but will this all come at a cost?
Gay boys, in their droves, vacated "our strip" on one of the traditionally busiest nights of a venue's year, for yet another "of-the-moment" dance party.
And I believe that the organisers got greedy and missed the point of their creation - Fag Tag... (My suspicion is that this was just another group of event organisers who got greedy and wanted to earn some quick money.)
"After taking over the best venues in Sydney for the past two years, Fag Tag is gearing up to take on the Sydney Entertainment Centre..."(Sydney Entertainment Centre Website)
"Super Fag Tag (SFT) will celebrate two years of Fag Tag – the regular queer “invasions” of predominantly straight venues – by invading the Ent Cent for a huge house party in the round."(SX News)
Can someone (maybe someone who shelled out good money to attend..), please point out to me how the Sydney Entertainment Centre is considered a "Straight Venue"? If there was a plan to move in on a straight venue for a big party, how about it actually being one in the first place?
I also wonder how going to a straight venue for a one off night provides any sense of community? How long will the "thrill" of "invading" a straight venue last? Won't it seem just as boring as the founders claim Oxford St is after a while? Traipsing around the city constantly searching for a new venue to attend will get very boring for a gay community that loves it's venues at walking distance.
Further to this all, we should bear in mind this very important point. If we decend upon straight venues, we shouldn't be so critical of straights in ours. After all, what's good for the goose...
Now, with that being said, we have all heard the complaints about Oxford St getting "straight" and "homophobic", with many people encountering abuse as they walk to, from and on the strip. There is NO excuse for this behaviour. However, the Police have only had 2 (that's right, 2!) reports of homosexual abuse on Oxford St. (This information was reported at a recent DIVA meeting by a Anti-Violence Project Rep from ACON.)
The police have said that due to the lack of evidence of gay abuse on the strip, they will not step up patrols!
Last night I took the opportunity to remind the straights and the few gay boys there at Stonewall Hotel, that we are facing a tough time on Oxford St and we as a community should, and will not, let it stand. (Ironic to be talking like that in a venue dedicated to the Stonewall riots I must say!)
I put out the call to report any abuse, be it physical violence to verbal abuse, to the police, so that we can get police patrols on Oxford St and feel safer on the strip.
Mind you, this would all be in vain if gay boys leave the strip for large "Fag Tag" branded events (especially the ones that don't end up "invading" a straight venue - the Sydney Ent. Cent. for example.)
My understanding is that there are many people who feel the strip is dangerous, venues are becoming too straight and boring.
Now we can do something about all of those things, but we have to work together and discuss it.
Iv'e mentioned how to make it safer, but what about it being too straight?
Well why not attend venues those venues and make them "gay" by actually being there?
Now you might say they are too boring..
Maybe it's the music, the vibe, or the drag shows! Whatever it is, tell the venue! Voting with your feet isn't productive, just destructive! We need to bring people willingly back to the strip, or watch it disappear further from our hands.
We need to think carefully, and decide what we want - then grasp it with both hands.
What do you think? What do you want? Get talking!
