GenQ
http://www.generationq.net/opinion/chritique/misconceptions-of-oxford-street-violence-001.shtmlThe misconceptions of Oxford Street and its violence
There is an importance in telling the full story, not just part of it.
Editor's Note: Please note that the Australia Day community vigil is once again scheduled to go ahead as planned (at the time of this article being published, the vigil was cancelled, as clearely reflected below). View this article for more information.
Within the last few hours the community vigil that was originally to take place on Australia Day has been cancelled, and Seven News has reported on Oxford Street no longer being safe according to council reports. One report told the story, the other did not. In this continually evolving and damaging story to the gay community, are pieces from different jigsaws being put into the one puzzle, or am I just missing something?
Without going on for thousands of words, let me just drum out a few sentences to explain my personal feelings of frustrations towards ACON. The anti-violence project safe space was launched in November. Some of the events that have taken place since the launch of the shop front; ’50 year old critical after Oxford Street attack’, Street Angels opposed by ACON to take to the streets, the brutal homophobic bashing of Craig Gee and partner Shane Brennen, ACON contacts mainstream press over community vigil – vigil is cancelled following hundreds of ‘alleged’ complaints, Ken Bryan is bashed after leaving a gay bar on Oxford Street on 1 December (World AIDS Day).
At this point, let me give you something to ponder. Have you seen so much negative publicity on the subject of violence in the Oxford Street area in the past few years in comparison to recent months? What has been the subject of discussions in the gay community in recent weeks? And how many stories have we heard of homophobic violence after the launch of the safe space? To me, there are some conflicting answers to these questions...
Some results from polls conducted by the Sydney Star Observer in recent months:
‘Is Oxford Street still safe for gays and lesbians?’ – 70.4 percent said no.
‘Are increased police patrols of Oxford Street enough to improve safety?’ – 65.5 percent said no.
‘Are community patrols a good move to tackle homophobic violence?’ – 56.1 percent said yes.
‘Do you think police are ignoring the escalation of anti-gay violence?’ – 70.5 percent said yes.
‘Do you support the Street Angels concept?’ – 75.7 percent said yes.
‘Would you attend a vigil in support of victims of homophobic violence?’ – 81.5 percent said yes.
Pondering all of the above data and recent events, the majority of the community does not think Oxford Street is safe, they have expressed a desire in increased community involvement, they have said that police are not adequately dealing with increased levels of anti-gay violence, and that there would be a significant attendance for the community vigil that was supposed to take place on Australia Day. Now let’s relate this to the AIDS Council of New South Wales; an organization that is designed to serve the community. Efforts by individual members of the community to attempt to resolve the issue of violence on Oxford Street has been refuted by ACON, ACON is using its time in the spotlight to demand more action from police over homophobic violence when members of the community have said that increased police presence on Oxford Street is not enough to improve safety, and finally the CEO of ACON suggested racial concern over the poster design for the previously forthcoming community vigil (resulting in its cancellation, even though over 80 percent of respondents to the SSO poll indicated they would attend such an event), when all it was supposed to do was give a perception of the Village People? Something doesn’t seem quite right to me...
The AIDS Council of New South Wales exists for a reason that most definitely needs to be addressed. But I am concerned. Out of the $9,663,512 in revenue that ACON received during the 2006/07 financial year, less than 7.7 percent of total revenue ($739,661) was spent on program materials and services. Should a non profit organization be contributing so little of its revenue to this area?
To finish off, here is one more figure. Over 2,200 criminal offences take place annually on Oxford Street and surrounding areas, with over half being assaults or robberies. Going by that figure alone, roughly 350 such incidents would have taken place since 24 November. And yet we have a ‘safe space’ on Oxford Street...