At the Pride Annual General Meeting on March 28 a motion was put forward by former Pride Co-president Daniel Smith to publicly condemn The Court Hotel for its ongoing refusal to provide any financial contribution to Pride from its Pride night party which directly competes with Pride’s major fundraising event. The motion was passed.
OUTinPerth asked Bree Day, owner of The Court Hotel how concerned The Court Hotel is regarding this condemnation.
The Court has never refused to support Pride financially. In fact The Court has been trying to mend the relationship with Pride for years however we have been frustrated by unrealistic expectations of the committee.
In 2007, The Court assisted Pride with the Liquor Act changes, provided assistance with Fairday as well as other support such as holding their launch party. In 2008 the committee changed and our past assistance (including being one of Pride’s biggest and longest outstanding creditors plus holding events such as the Pride Needs Lifeguards fundraiser) was forgotten. We offered Pride to bring some of their functions to the venue and offered the committee more than other venues were proposing however that was turned down.
That year Pride decided due to financial losses not to hold their own after party for the parade at Belmont Racecourse. Based on this we knew we would need to expand our after party to cater for the extra people that wanted to go out after the parade and for the first year we decided to shut down the street. This was a risky decision as the costs of the larger event were substantial. We discussed the event with a committee member from Pride and offered to give them a donation after the event when we could determine the event’s success. This was refused by the committee member who proposed that we donate half of our ticket price to the committee or they would not support the event. This was financially unviable for us, especially for an unproven and risky venture and we had to decline.
The Court held the Mardi Gras fundraiser for Pride in March 2008. The agreement was $5 of every ticket sold after costs were covered would be donated to Pride. The event did not make a profit. In fact we found a lot of resistance from patrons at the door in regards to the $5 donation. Many expressed views on why they should give money to Pride when they did not know what Pride did for them. That same year we also supported the Pride Theatre Season.
When the next Street Party was being planned we met with Pride and discussed the issue of sponsorship. No agreement could be made. This led to Pride trying to have our event stopped. We fought back and our event went ahead. What people don’t know is that during the planning of this event the venue had discussed giving Pride a donation after the event’s figures were finalised, yet due to the actions of the committee we decided against it.
Since then The Court has continued each year to try and mend the relationship between Pride and the venue. I have sat down with Charles Denham and explained the history and expressed a willingness to forget the past and start again however this was not taken up. I then removed myself from the discussions last year and allowed our general manager (a gay man….not that that should matter but it seemed to make a difference) to meet with representatives of Pride to try and work out how we can work together. The exact same discussion took place that I had had previously however this time the meeting ended positively and led to Fruits and Suits being moved to the venue for a short period of time. Then during Fairday last year, the DJs and drag queens were barred from promoting The Court. When asked why this was after the positive steps that had been taken the committee refused an explanation and refused to discuss the matter with the management staff.
Pride need to understand that support goes both ways. While we have always been happy to assist Pride, we also expect some reciprocal support, such as holding some of the regular events at the venue. In comparison, during the same time period, The Court offered support to GLCS who held regular fundraisers at the venue.
Former Pride WA Co-President Daniel Smith released a statement outlining why he moved the motion.
The Court’s event costs Pride tens of thousands of dollars each year because it directly competes with Pride’s major annual fundraising event. Pride WA spends thousands of volunteer hours drawing people into Northbridge for the Pride Parade and fund-raising Party and The Court is increasingly benefiting from this, without directly contributing themselves.
OUTinPerth asked immediate past co-president of Pride WA Charles Denham to elaborate on what Pride has been looking for from The Court Hotel.
What kind of support does Pride expect the Court to contribute? Is there a set financial amount expected?
I don’t believe a set figure can be put on this – it is for discussion and agreement between the parties. I do believe that when a “gay venue” holds an event on Pride night – Pride’s primary annual fundraising event (being part of its aims and objectives under its constitution) – and it is Pride that puts on the Parade and brings the people into the city to celebrate, it is reasonable to expect that support for Pride will be forthcoming when money is being made “on its coat tails”.
Bree Day has outlined a history of the different offers that The Court has made to Pride over the last few years, such as making a contribution once costs were covered, but notes that Pride had rejected this offer. Is this true and if so why was this offer turned down?
I have never been made aware of any offer made by The Court of any contribution. Pride was once offered “a stall” at one of the Court’s pride parties to sell things and promote membership – highly impractical (a) at a party and (b) on Pride night when they have their own function to run. Pride would not reject any contribution – especially financial – unless there were strings attached which were unacceptable.
How have you worked to improve the relationship with The Court Hotel?
I have had meetings with Bree trying to rebuild the bridge between the Court and Pride – and we did move Fruits in Suits there for a while last year. However we lost support for our event because we held it at that particular venue. I have never discussed the issue of parade night with her. She wanted to make sure that Pride would be supporting her business before she would even consider that.
The New Committee
The Pride Committee 2011 was newly elected at the AGM and is yet to hold their first meeting. Many of the committee members elected are new to Pride so cannot comment on past dealings with The Court Hotel. However, given that Bree Day has stated that she has tried to mend the relationship with Pride, the Pride Committee may be requesting a meeting with The Court Hotel to discuss the issues from both sides.
OUTinPerth Editor Graeme Watson is a member of PRIDE WA. Graeme was present at the Annual General Meeting and abstained from voting on this issue.
