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Reg Domingo
Nearly half of GLBT people have witnessed some form of hostility, abuse
or violent attacks at major GLBT festivals, a new study reveals.
A study of 332 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from
across Australia has found a steady undercurrent of hostility and abuse
at public GLBT events, particularly in the aftermath of the Mardi Gras
parade.
A majority of respondents described the experience as relating to homophobia.
In a survey report released on Tuesday, researchers from The University
of Newcastle found that 40 per cent of respondents had witnessed some
form of hostility at an event with 9 per cent of these witnessing more
than six incidents.
The study also revealed that a majority of these incidents occurred at
the Mardi Gras Parade (59 per cent), followed by unspecified GLBT
parties and events (13 per cent). Incidents were also cited in Perth
Pride (7 per cent), Adelaide Feast (5 per cent) and Melbourne Midsumma
(3 per cent). Brisbane Pride (2 per cent) was cited the least.
Travelling home from an event was cited as the single most risky aspect of event participation, the report said.
Many respondents said they deliberately adopted strategies to reduce
the likelihood of gaining unwanted attention and hostility. These
include covering up en route to and from events, acting straight,
travelling in groups or using private transport.
Because of concerns regarding safety and overcrowding, over 65 per cent of respondents said they tended to avoid certain events.
Researchers also found that nearly 30 per cent of respondents had
personally experienced some form of harassment or assault during a
public event, with over half indicating the abuse occurred during the
Mardi Gras Festival.
The survey findings also indicate that hostile acts occurred less
during the Parade because of two factors: one, a high level of
official, police and informal crowd supervision and surveillance; and
two, “the entertaining spectacle offered to all onlookers leads to a
frequent temporary suspension of sexual prejudice”.
The findings are published in When The Glitter Settles: Safety and
Hostility At and Around Gay and Lesbian Public Events, a report
compiled by the Cultural Institutions and Practices Research Centre at
the University of Newcastle. Information was collated from document
analyses, participant interviews, focus groups and an online survey
made accessible between August 2004 and June 2005. One hundred and five
interviews were also conducted with participants at the Mardi Gras
parade between 2004 and 2006.
The report suggests that there could be “a further broadening of
discussion of the context of safety issues to cover more aspects of
event participation and travel”.
“Participants at events studied in this report focused on strategies
of safety and crime at the individual and group level, whereas event
organisers stressed organisational measures like crowd supervision and
intensive policing,” researchers Stephen Tomsen and Kevin Markwell
wrote.
“These ought not be seen as opposed viewpoints: the provision of safety
at such large-scale public events is clearly the responsibility of all
parties involved including participants, organisers, security staff,
police and local authorities.”
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