In an Australian-first, City of Sydney council is movingto single out parts of the city for a crackdown on homophobic behaviour.
The policy is still being finalised butOxford St, as well as parts of Darlinghurst, King St, Newtownand Erskineville Rd,Erskineville will be recognised by the council as gay and lesbian precincts.
The move, passed by a vote of five to four,could allow City of Sydney Councilto revoke late-night trading privileges for venues if their patrons commithomophobic abuse or violence, and require venues to include anti-homophobiameasures in staff training and patron management.
Local businesses will be encouraged to usesigns and stickers to declare their premises homophobia free.
The council will to consult with police,the Aids Council of NSW and other community groups to develop the strategy.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said themove recognises the "essential gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender(GLBT) character of Oxford St". She added while all areas of NSW aretechnically "homophobia-free zones", this strategy recognises theimportance of the GLBT community.
Councillor Phillip Black, who proposed theplan, said the idea was similar to alcohol-free or nuclear-free zones.
"At this point, the ball is withcouncil staff to develop a proposal that will come back to council over thenext few months, but it could involve stickers, badges, posters and T-shirtssimilar to the Safe Place pink triangle campaign," he said. "We haveto create awareness that homophobia is not acceptable."
But gay Sydney councillor Shayne Mallard, who votedagainst the idea, has labelled the plan "a PR stunt".
"It's a gimmick, a token effort to dowith a very serious problem," Mr Mallard said. "It's essentiallysigns and stickers. What we need is more police and, if they don't have theresources, council should provide money to employ security guards.
Drag Queen Maxi Shield, a City of Sydney Oxford Street Safetyambassador, said the idea "can't hurt".
"More education in anything doesn'tgo astray, but we need both awareness and more police," Ms Shield said.
"We need more police presence andsafety measures, not just putting a label on it."
The strategy will operate in addition totwo other council moves designed to make Oxford St safer and the Trading PremisesDevelopment Control Plan which was used to refuse the Gaff Nightclub'sapplication to virtually double its size.
Ms Moore said that decision followedobjections from local residents about noise and "gay men also wrote to meabout homophobic abuse from nightclub patrons".
