When councils postpone LGBTQ+ events as soon as Neo-Nazis target them, it sends a message to queer people that they should hide from an increasingly visible far-Right, writes Tom Tanuki.
LAST WEEK, an end-of-year event for LGBTQ+ youth called Glitter Nova was targeted by neo-Nazis.
The Melbourne queer community, anti-fascists and various other factions announced a peaceful gathering outside the event with the aim of protecting it from far-Right interference. As that gathering began to gain traction, however, Stonnington City Council announced it would be postponing the event.
That’s the news as it was published in most online and print media, and most are probably already aware of that. It was frustrating to see the story end there for the activists and community members who’d announced their intent to protect the event.
As far as they were concerned, it did not end there. ‘Everybody’s still going’, came the announcement that afternoon, encouraging attendance outside the cancelled event, regardless.
Why rally anyway if the event was shuttered? Some didn’t understand this and so I think it warrants explaining.
Firstly, take the neo-Nazi threat to the event in context. There has been a years-long far-Right campaign to reinvigorate anti-queer hatred in the guise of contrived fears over the “sexualisation of children”. These campaigners do that by targeting trans, queer and drag family-friendly events and performers.
Read the article by Tom Tanuki in Independent Australia.