The organiser of a new LGBTQ Sydney nightclub housed in a 158-year-old deconsecrated church has closed the venue and cancelled all events after Christian groups protested on opening night and the developer landlord issued a tenant’s notice of breach.
Last Wednesday, the Divine Playhouse – renamed from the Unholy Playhouse the day after Christian community backlash – held its opening event on Kent Street in Sydney’s CBD.
Attended by Arts Minister John Graham, 24-Hour Economy Commissioner Michael Rodrigues and City of Sydney councillor Jess Miller, the experimental nightclub was slated to host live music, cabaret shows and performances – most of it adopting Catholic themes and names.
Kat Dopper, the founder of queer events company Heaps Gay, said in an update to artists, promoters, partners and ticket holders that, following pre-emptive action taken by the site’s landlord, they had been forced to close and were exploring legal options.
“Faced with this situation, our priority has had to be the wellbeing of our artists, audiences, event organisers and staff,” Dopper said. ”Further, Meta has shut down all of Divine Playhouse’s social media accounts, as well as personal accounts and all LGBTQIA+ community accounts – including Heaps Gay.
“As a small independent organisation that has built and communicated online with our communities and ticket holders for over 13 years, losing access to them and being silenced makes this situation even more difficult.
“We strongly believe we have acted in good faith throughout this whole process and remain committed to meeting our obligations as tenants and working towards a constructive resolution.”
Opposite the venue on Wednesday last week, about 100 people from Christian groups The Prodigal Sons and Fit for the Kingdom staged an unauthorised protest, chanting hymns and videoing entrants.
Protest attendee Louis Anderson filmed himself confronting patrons and calling them “disgusting”, “a shame to this country”, and saying that they “should be ashamed”. He posted the video to his Instagram account.
The developer who rented the venue to Dopper, Revelop, issued a notice of breach of the lease over “offensive trade” following the backlash. That clause prohibits a tenant from carrying out noisy or disruptive business and doesn’t relate to political or religious ideology.
Revelop has been contacted for comment.
The venue received a $100,000 grant from Create NSW to become a multidisciplinary venue filling unused space. It has become a particularly contentious flashpoint for Christian groups.
Catholic man Chris Nave created a petition on Tuesday last week to stop the NSW Government supporting the “mockery of Christianity”. As of early afternoon on Wednesday, it had amassed 5200 signatures on Change.org.
Meanwhile, a counter petition created on the same website by drag queen Fran Giapanni yesterday had gathered 2300 signatures to keep the Divine Playhouse “open as an inclusive arts venue”.
NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann has called on the Minns Government to back the Divine Playhouse, saying the protest and backlash against the space was an attempt to police queer spaces and identities through intimidation and outrage campaigns.
“Sydney has spent years trying to rebuild its nightlife and creative culture. Yet here we’ve got one of the city’s most exciting new independent venues potentially driven out by a campaign of intimidation within weeks of opening,” she said.
On Friday, the Christian groups will protest at the venue again, to show the NSW Government that “Christians will not tolerate any more disrespect toward our faith”, according to The Prodigal Sons Instagram feed.
In a statement, NSW Police said it “recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly. Police will have a presence at the location [on Friday] to ensure the safety of the community.”
Liam Aquilina, who attended the first protest, said the community’s issue was not with the LGBTQ community but with the “mockery” of faith.
“Our gripe is not necessarily against the use of a church,” Aquilina said. “We’re aware it’s been sold [and deconsecrated] … This is against the mockery of our faith.
“The use of the ‘Sunday mess’ instead of a Sunday mass, having [Catholic] themed parties … having nuns dress up … having religious statues of Our Lady … these are things that we hold to be sacred, just like any other religion would.”
Dopper said the arts had always been a place where people ask difficult questions and use satire to reflect on the world, adding that causing offence was not Heaps Gay’s intent.
“Respectfully, we heard those concerns and in good faith promptly made changes prior to opening,” she said.
The deconsecrated church previously operated as the Genesian Theatre for 70 years, and before that, was a poorhouse, the Kursaal Theatre and the first Matthew Talbot Hostel.
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