A deconsecrated Sydney church transformed into an arts venue hosting LGBTQ+ events has been ordered to stop “engaging in offensive trade” by its landlord after religious groups protested against its opening night. Source: The Guardian.
The 150-year-old building, in the heart of Sydney’s central business district, has not been a church since it was deconsecrated in the 1930s.
The new venue changed its name from Unholy Playhouse to Divine Playhouse at the last minute, after concerns were raised by people from the Christian community.
Catholic men’s group Fit for the Kingdom and Christian brotherhood the Prodigal Sons claimed that the venue itself “mocks religious faith”, with about 70 supporters rallying there on Wednesday night and demanding that the New South Wales Government withdraw a $100,000 grant Divine Playhouse received from the state’s arts agency, Create NSW.
The next day the landlords sent a notice of breach to the venue’s organiser, Heaps Gay Events, claiming it “insulted and mocked the sincerely held religious beliefs of millions of Christian Australians” and giving it two days to cease operation.
The venue cancelled weekend events and its future remains uncertain. The Divine Playhouse and Heaps Gay Instagram accounts have been taken down due to complaints.
James Thorpe, the founder of hospitality organisation Odd Culture Group and co-chair of the Night Time Industries Association, called the situation “deeply concerning”.
“Freedom cannot mean the freedom to say what you believe while demanding silence from everyone who disagrees,” Mr Thorpe wrote in a LinkedIn post.
“Christians have a right to preach, protest and stand outside Divine Playhouse and pray. Queer artists have the right to make art that is confronting, irreverent and, yes, offensive.”
In separate statements, the Prodigal Sons and Fit for the Kingdom said they were not seeking to silence anyone; instead they wanted to underscore, in the Prodigal Sons’ words, “how deeply this material has wounded a community of faith”.
The groups said they took issue with photos and videos shared from the venue’s opening night, including one of a performer dressed as a pig offering McDonald’s fries as holy communion.
“There is no shortage of venues across Sydney where the LGBTQ community is free to express itself and its artistic creativity,” a spokesperson from the Prodigal Sons said. “The selection of a former church is a deliberate and conscious decision.”
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Arts venue faces eviction from former Sydney church after religious groups protest LGBTQ+ events (By Kat Wong, The Guardian)
