Melbourne’s The Laird, a venue for gay and transgender men, and Eagle Leather have both been attacked over the weekend covered in homophobic graffiti.
The vandalism at the two venues, which are close to each other, appears to be related. Eagle Leather was covered with a message that reads “God Hates Fags”.
Staff at The Laird also moved quickly to cover up abusive graffiti ahead of their regular Sunday session. They posted online that the offenders had been captured on their surveillance cameras.
The Laird posted to their Instagram page that they’d covered the offensive messages with Pride flags ahead of their opening.
“We are looking forward to you all joining us today for Sunday Social. Just a heads up, you’ll notice some pride flags on the building and doors when you arrive.” they posted.
“We had some vandalism overnight that you don’t need to see when coming to relax and hang with friends. Leave it be, City of Yarra graffiti removal are on the case, and they were caught on our security cameras. See you soon.” the venue said.
The Laird had the words “Fag” sprayed across it’s doors, while the wall was covered with a stencil of bushranger Ned Kelly that read “Ned Hates Fags”.
The stencil of Ned Kelly was also reportedly sprayed on the Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick as well.
Do you need some support?
If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, support and counselling are available from:
QLife: 1800 184 527 / qlife.org.au (Webchat 3pm – midnight)
QLife are a counselling and referral service for LGBTQIA+ people.
DISCHARGED: info@discharged.asn.au / discharged.asn.au
Discharged is a trans-led support service with peer support groups for trans and gender diverse folks.
Lifeline: 13 11 14 / lifeline.org.au
Beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 / www.beyondblue.org.au
