Homophobia on Oxford Street is the latest issue to divide councillors in the run up to the local government elections next month.

At a recent GLBT forum organised by the City of Sydney, ACON CEO Stevie Clayton called for Oxford Street, Darlinghurst and other recognised GLBT precincts to be declared ‘homophobia-free zones’.

The suggestion was later adopted by gay independent councillor Philip Black, who tabled a motion during a council meeting earlier this month.

His remarks were seized on by Liberal councillor Shayne Mallard who lambasted his suggestion as “another token PR effort from this Lord Mayor”.

“To borrow from Woody Allen, ‘the best response to Neo-Nazis is a baseball bat’, Mallard said last week.

“The best response to homophobia and gay bashing is more and tougher high-visibility policing applying an aggressive zero tolerance policy. That is why I have called for Council to finance a community policing centre in the middle of the strip and not the failed ACON safe space on the edge. The last thing we need is ‘homophobia free zone’ signs along Oxford Street. It will not prevent one bashing and may even attract violence.”

Black, who is running in Clover Moore’s ticket in the upcoming elections, defended his position, arguing that he was presenting a strategy, not street signage, although he admitted the use of the word ‘zone’ may have been misleading.

“Do nothing Mallard, who did not attend the GLBT Forum, has totally missed the point of my proposal,” Black said in an email to SX.

“It is important that we pro-actively tackle homophobic abuse as well as violence, because abuse is often a precursor to violence. My motion aimed to raise awareness and to reinforce that homophobic violence is just not acceptable.

“The GLBT forum proposal was a very basic idea and my motion was to move that idea forward using Council professional staff to develop possible ideas for further consideration by Council ...” Black continued.

“It’s certainly not street signs and token PR!”

Labor candidate Dr Meredith Burgmann also weighed into the debate, declaring she was “deeply angered by the Clover Moore Party’s soft approach to addressing homophobic violence”.

“The continuing homophobic violence on Oxford Street and indeed across the City is an indictment of the Clover Moore Party and its failure on this crucial issue,” Burgmann said in a statement.

The Labor party would introduce compulsory anti-homophobia conditions on council development applications, requiring venues to detail how they will ensure their premises are free of homophobia, she added.

If elected, Burgmann said she would commit to funding extra police for the City who are “properly trained to deal with homophobic incidents”.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore stood by Black’s proposal.

“In 1993, I introduced successful anti-vilification legislation into Parliament to make people think twice about engaging in homophobic abuse,” she told SX.

“A homophobia-free zone helps put this legislation into effect at a local level, providing a preventive warning to anyone inclined to homophobia and helping Council, business and the community coordinate action.”
 

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