Fridae

Once a year, half a million people flock to Sydney's Oxford Street to catch a view of thousands of near-naked homo-gym-bodies parading by in the Mardi Gras Parade.

On the surface, the annual Mardi Gras may appear to be the street party in celebration of gay pride, but in reality, there's a darker side involving gay-bashing or violence towards gay men and women which often goes unreported.

Fridae's Associate Editor, Alvin Tan, speaks to Jack, a good looking 27 year old Singaporean, who was a victim of gay-hate violence at the recent Sydney Mardi Gras.

Fridae: Could you describe in detail the events leading to the incident?

Jack: It took place on a Saturday night around 9 pm while the main parade was still in full swing along Oxford Street. I was with a friend and we decided to head back to our hotel to meet up with the rest of our gang before going to another party venue. So we decided to take a short-cut through an alley way.

Fridae: Didn't you learn from Hollywood movies that dark alley ways are always a precursor to some form of attack or confrontation? So what happened next?

Jack: Guess not. Well, while we were walking through the alley way, this drunk Hispanic guy around his early twenties started throwing slurs at the both of us.

Fridae: What kind of slurs?

Jack: Discriminatory anti-gay ones like "faggots" and "poofs" and what not.

Fridae: Did that incensed either you or your friend?

Jack: On my part, I ignored him and kept walking. Unfortunately, my friend was not one to take such insults lying down so he decided to confront the guy. Before I could react, they were at each other's throats.

Fridae: Did you let out a Xena-like whoop and join in the fray or did you do a Mother Theresa and attempt to play peace-maker?

Jack (laughs): Both I guess. I ran back to drag my friend away but the next thing I know, I was attacked from behind by a group of Hispanic guys. Although I managed to get on my feet, I was beaten down by a rain of blows.

Fridae: Did you retaliate or fight back?

Jack: At first I tried to reason with them but it was futile. They wanted to fight and baited us repeatedly. Soon it degenerated into a no-holds barred fight.

Fridae: Like the quintessential bar scene brawl in most western movies huh?

Jack (smiles): Something like that. But there were no dolled-up ladies of easy virtues running around screaming.

Fridae: There would be if I was there. But seriously, could you describe your assailants?

Jack: There were altogether seven of them and all of them looked Hispanic to me. They were dressed in typical hoodlum gear with baseball caps worn backwards and singlets over T-shirts. Looked like regular gang bangers.

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Fridae: Good God! You were attacked by rejects from J Lo's posse? How did the attack end?

Jack (smiles): It ended pretty quickly with no real physical harm done when we managed to get out of the alley onto Oxford Street.

Fridae: You don't look like you escaped unscathed judging by the extent of your injuries.

Jack: The thing is, we dropped our digital camera and my friend went back to retrieve it. The same gang of Hispanic guys took the opportunity to surround my friend and a fight broke out again. So what's a gay guy supposed to do? I went to my friend's aid and we exchanged blows again. Only this time, my nose was broken and blood was gushing out.

Fridae: No offense, but you looked pretty messed up.

Jack: None taken. I am currently nursing a bloody nose, a real "shiner", sprained wrist and knee as well as multiple cuts and bruises all over my body. My friend had it worse - he was hit by glass bottles - once on the head and the other on the cheek.

Fridae: The question is: did you give as good as you get?

Jack: Thankfully, my friend managed to retrieve our digital camera and we managed to lure the gang closer to Oxford Street. The Hispanic guys must have realized that they were near the main street because they did an about-turn and fled. I guess, stupid as they are, they must have realized that they would have been beaten to a pulp by the hundreds of gay men on parade if the fight had spilled out onto Oxford Street.

Fridae: Smart move. Was there anyone around during the entire episode? If so, did they do anything to help?

Jack: There were security guards stationed at the various buildings nearby but they just stood there unmoving. People at the alley way were running away to avoid the glass bottles that were flying everywhere. No one lifted a finger to help or intervene.

Fridae: What were the thoughts and emotions that raced through your mind throughout the ordeal?

Jack: I was fairly level-headed. Initially, I kept wanting to reason with our attackers. Then I realized that they were a bunch of gutless gang boys who were only acting tough because they had the strength of numbers on their side. My emotions then turned to frustration and anger.

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Fridae: If only you were Bruce Banner � but did you think either your friend or yourself did anything to provoke the attack?

Jack (laughs): Nope. We were pretty nondescript and dressed "normally" as well. There were no sparkles on our face, no tiaras on our heads and definitely no tight leather pants with their bottoms removed.

Fridae: Do you then think that the attack was motivated by racism or a case of gay-bashing?

Jack: Guess them yelling anti-gay slurs at us meant that it was more a homosexual hate thing. It's kind of sad actually. To think that they were at the Mardi Gras Parade and yet remained totally clueless about what the parade was all about.

Fridae: Did the incident affect or alter your perception of the Mardi Gras?

Jack: Back at our hotel, I learned that these things do happen quite frequently at the Mardi Gras parades. I guess I was lucky to escape with mainly superficial injuries. I had a great time at the Mardi Gras but I think that somewhere along the line, the message behind the Mardi Gras got lost. Instead of gay men and women joined in celebration, most of the audience were in fact curious straight people. To me, the Mardi Gras has now become just another massive party venue for everyone - whatever their sexuality may be.

Fridae: So will we see you at next year's parade?

Jack: If time permits, yes. I'm not going to let one bad experience spoil my participation in an event that means something to gay men everywhere - even though the Mardi Gras has become more mainstream these days.

Fridae: Having survived that dreadful ordeal, what advice would you give to Asian gay men and women who are thinking of embarking on their virgin outings to next year's Mardi Gras?

Jack: Bring a pepper spray or a stun gun? Seriously, I think the most sensible thing to do would be to stick to well-lit areas and hang out with your friends in a group. Stay cool-headed and remember that you're there to have fun. So don't let homophobes ruin the event for you.

Fridae: Good advice. One final thing - if assuming those homophobic gay-bashing morons could read (and that's a far assumption), what would you like to say to their cowardly faces?

Jack (laughs): Well, I won't be screaming curses at them if that's what you mean. Honestly? I believe in karma. There's no need to wish further ill will upon them. What goes around comes around. So why lower myself to their level?