Sydney queer arts venue evicted after Christian protests over “offensive trade” claim

It took months of work to turn an empty church into Divine Playhouse, but the venue existed for only three days before it was ordered to close.

This week, the gothic signage and queer absurdist art commissioned for the LGBTQ+ inclusive arts space were removed and placed into storage, while volunteers whitewashed a mural painted on the walls.

Sydney’s St John the Evangelist church, which was deconsecrated in the 1930s and had been empty for a year, reopened as Divine Playhouse on 8 July under a year-long permit.

The venue hosted an opening night party, a queer comedy night and a disco before its lease was terminated.

After religious groups protested outside the venue and called on the New South Wales government to withdraw its $100,000 arts grant, the landlord ordered the promoters, Heaps Gay Events, to stop “engaging in offensive trade” or face eviction. The lease was then terminated a few days later.

Heaps Gay had until 5pm on Friday to vacate. Lawyers for the group are now exploring whether to sue for damages and whether to make a sex discrimination claim.

“It’s not just about Divine any more, it’s about censorship,” promoter and Heaps Gay founder Kat Dopper told Guardian Australia.

“If we were to walk away, these groups will just get stronger and more powerful and louder.

“We can’t allow that to happen.”

Located in Sydney’s central business district, the former church had previously housed a children’s school and a theatre after being deconsecrated nearly 100 years ago. Organisers said Divine Playhouse was intended to be a safe and inclusive queer-friendly arts space.

At the opening night party, titled First Rite, hundreds attended performances by drag artist Etcetera Etcetera, a DJ set by Stereogamous, performances from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and a speech by Sydney deputy lord mayor Jess Miller, who spoke about the “intergenerational magic” of spaces like this.

Dopper said the venue had changed its name from Unholy Playhouse at the last minute in response to concerns from members of the Christian community.

Christian groups including Fit for the Kingdom and the Prodigal Sons still protested, with a Fit for the Kingdom spokesperson calling the event “hateful blasphemy that mocks what we hold most sacred”.

They pointed to social media images from First Rite, including drag queens dressed as nuns, an attendee wearing a crucifix corpus on a leather choker, and a performer in a pig costume offering french fries as holy communion.

A day after the party, lawyers for the landlord sent a notice of breach claiming the venue’s “offensive trade has caused … grievance and disturbance”. “Offensive trade” was later cited as grounds for eviction under section 129 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW).

The building is owned by developer Redevelop, founded by billionaires Anthony El-Hazouri and Charbel Hazzouri.

The landlords and their lawyers did not respond to repeated requests for comment, but told the Sydney Morning Herald they were not aware of how the space would be used and said it was “equivalent to hate speech” because it targeted religious views.

El-Hazouri told the newspaper, “The events … they were targeting Christian beliefs … and, for us, it’s the height of offence to say it’s about arts and culture when you’re derogating an entire group’s belief.”

Marque Lawyers, which represents Heaps Gay, argues that there was not a proper basis for termination.

Managing partner Michael Bradley said the idea of “offensive trade” comes from 1840s English law and was historically used to regulate things like noxious smells.

He said the Conveyancing Act defines it as a lessee not using or permitting “any noxious, noisome, or offensive art, trade, business occupation, or calling”.

“It’s never been applied to moral offensiveness in the way the landlord is seeking to do,” Bradley said. “We don’t doubt that the landlord is offended by what Heaps Gay was doing, but that’s a subjective personal question.”

Cathy Sherry, a Macquarie University professor and land law expert, said there was a “very strong possibility” the definition referred to physically offensive matters because “noisome” and “noxious” are physical descriptors.

She warned that allowing landlords to define “offensive” as morally offensive could make Australian property law resemble the US, where restrictive covenants were used to support racial segregation and discrimination.

“If one landlord can evict a tenant because they claim what they’re doing on the premises is offensive, then every landlord can.”

In a statement to the Guardian, Fit for the Kingdom said nobody had stopped the organisers from publishing, fundraising, speaking or performing, but that they welcomed the landlord’s decision to “refuse to allow their premises to host hateful content”.

“The prayer vigils [outside the venue] were always for prayer and public awareness of the issue: the targeted ridicule of our Catholic faith,” a spokesperson said.

“We don’t suggest the organisers or performers are less deserving of human dignity or safety, or target them as individuals.”

Before the eviction, Divine Playhouse had already made hundreds of bookings and was expected to support more than 1500 artists, producers, performers, technicians, small creative businesses and staff during its year-long lease.

If the landlords are found in breach of contract, Heaps Gay could claim substantial damages.

Lawyers are also examining whether the venue can make a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, which could try to resolve the dispute through conciliation.

If the complaint is not resolved, Heaps Gay could take the matter to the federal court.

While the legal options are being considered, Divine Playhouse is looking for a new home.

More than 18,000 people have signed a petition supporting the venue, and $41,000 has been raised to help cover artist fees, pay lawyers and fund the move.

“I’m so sad that no one’s going to get to see the space,” Dopper said.

“It was such a nugget: it could have a stage in the round for bands, it could be a cabaret with the long catwalks and theatre … It was literally perfect.”

For days, volunteers and stakeholders have been removing speakers and putting commissioned artwork into storage.

But Keekee James’s mural, painted on the walls of the building, cannot be packed away.

“It does feel like our version of blasphemy to paint it over,” Cecily Hardy, a Divine Playhouse representative, said. “Art throughout the ages has been censored, and this is our local version of that.”

Dopper said organisers were not mocking the church and had adjusted the program in response to community concerns.

Regardless of intent, NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Tim Roberts said Australians should be able to mock powerful institutions.

“If we cannot even mock a religion, that’s a silencing of our speech and discourse,” he said.

NSW premier Chris Minns previously said it was “hard to believe that this is the best location for that kind of event”, while other Labor MPs, including arts minister John Graham and Stephen Lawrence, have since backed Divine Playhouse.

“[Christians] have the right to feel offended and to express that publicly,” said Lawrence, who is gay and was raised Catholic. “But we should jealously guard the right to artistic freedom and the way state grants accommodate that.”

Dopper is organising a fundraiser show for cancelled artists and a protest, which will be held on Saturday.