According to a recent report, the infamous Oxford is slowly losing its appeal as the gay epicenter of Sydney. As more and more of its famous bars and clubs close down or downsize, it seems Oxford Street?s once teeming gay crowd have slowly been migrating to gay-friendly Newtown, Erskinville and Camperdown.

According to the report, even drag queens are running out of venues to strut their stuff. Many of the bars and cafes along the street have either been converted to Internet cafes and convenient stores, or have shrunk their operations. One example is the Albury Hotel, which has closed its street level bar and has moved to a more secluded upper floor. Another is the once-popular Beauchamp Hotel, which is to be turned into an Irish Pub.

According to Anthony ?Chelsea Bun? Defina, who manages booking for the street?s famous drag queen, the street is changing a lot, with venues for drag performers dwindling slowly.

Some people have attributed the lack of gay patrons to the general unsafe feeling in the area. They also expressed disgust at recent gay beatings on the street itself. Other feel that the street had become too successful for its own good, and had attracted the wrong kind of crowd ? some of which are straights with low tolerance for gays and lesbians.

The South Sydney Council has taken notice. It is embarking on a "development control plan" to look at land use issues and their social impact along the street. Part of the problem is also attributed to the city?s lack of maintenance to the street, although the council claims it is trying to do its best, given that they stopped early morning street cleaning due to complaints from patrons that they were getting wet.

Oxford Street is still quite gay on weekdays, but the crowds have been growing more mixed on weekend. Some venues have hired extra security to avoid any possible unpleasantness, although they say gays and straights are mixing fairly well.