LGBTQ+ pop-up in former Sydney church ordered by landlord to cancel events after religious protest

Landlord of deconsecrated building sends notice of breach to Divine Playhouse, claiming it ‘insulted and mocked’ beliefs of Christian Australians

Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

A deconsecrated Sydney church newly transformed into an LGBTQ+ venue has had to cancel events and been ordered to stop “engaging in offensive trade” by its landlord after religious groups protested against its opening night.

Divine Playhouse opened last Wednesday with the intention of being a safe and inclusive space for artists to work and connect with audiences, its organiser said.

The 150-year-old building, in the heart of Sydney’s central business district, has not been a church since it was deconsecrated in the 1930s. It was later turned into a children’s school and a theatre.

The new venue changed its name from Unholy Playhouse at the last minute, after concerns were raised by people from the Christian community. Now the Catholic men’s group Fit for the Kingdom and Christian brotherhood the Prodigal Sons have claimed that the venue itself “mocks religious faith”, with about 70 supporters rallying there on Wednesday night and demanding that the New South Wales government withdraw a $100,000 grant Divine Playhouse received from the state’s arts agency, Create NSW.

The next day the landlords sent a notice of breach to the venue’s organiser, Heaps Gay Events, claiming it “insulted and mocked the sincerely held religious beliefs of millions of Christian Australians” and giving it two days to cease operation.

The venue cancelled weekend events and its future remains uncertain. The Divine Playhouse and Heaps Gay Instagram accounts have been taken down due to complaints.

“We note that the trade carried on by HG Events has been the subject of significant protest and public criticism, given its offensive nature,” says the notice of breach, which has been seen by Guardian Australia.

It adds: “Such offensive trade has caused, and will continue to cause, grievance and disturbance to owners of adjoining properties and to the general public.

“In circumstances where future public protests are almost certain to occur and are likely to endanger members of the public, our client considers that the time by which the offensive trade is to cease is reasonable.”

The playhouse was ordered to “cease engaging in offensive trade” by Saturday or potentially have its lease terminated. The lawyers representing the landlord did not answer the Guardian’s request for comment before publication.

James Thorpe, the founder of hospitality organisation Odd Culture Group and co-chair of the Night Time Industries Association, has called the situation “deeply concerning” and raised questions about the impact it would have across the city.

“Freedom cannot mean the freedom to say what you believe while demanding silence from everyone who disagrees,” Thorpe wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“For generations, queer people have fought for places to gather, perform, be loud, irreverent, joyful and entirely ourselves.

“Christians have a right to preach, protest and stand outside Divine Playhouse and pray. Queer artists have the right to make art that is confronting, irreverent and, yes, offensive.”

Sign up to Breaking News Australia

Get the most important news as it breaks

after newsletter promotion

Sydney’s deputy lord mayor, Jess Miller, shared Thorpe’s statement on Instagram, adding that she “could not agree more”.

When speaking at the venue’s opening on Wednesday, Miller celebrated the space as a place for community. “What happens between us when we come to places like this is we create [like] cathedral communities that are ultimately so much stronger for being together than for being split,” she said.

The Divine Playhouse promoter and founder of Heaps Gay, Kat Dopper, said at the launch that the idea for the venue was to be “super accessible for arts and culture communities to use without having to spend a million bucks”.

“I cannot wait to see what Sydney independent arts and culture does with the space,” she said.

In separate statements, the Prodigal Sons and Fit for the Kingdom told Guardian Australia they were not seeking to silence anyone; instead they wanted to underscore, in the Prodigal Sons’ words, “how deeply this material has wounded a community of faith”.
The groups said they took issue with photos and videos shared from the venue’s opening night, including one of a performer dressed as a pig offering McDonald’s french fries as holy communion. A spokesperson from Fit for the Kingdom decried what it saw as “hateful blasphemy that mocks what we hold most sacred”, listing “performers dressed as nuns waving sex toys” and “drag queens reenacting the birth of Christ” as examples.
“There is no shortage of venues across Sydney where the LGBTQ community is free to express itself and its artistic creativity,” a spokesperson from the Prodigal Sons said. “The selection of a former church is a deliberate and conscious decision.”

The furore engulfing the venue has been amplified on social media by Christian influencers including Spanian and the conservative Family First party Australia.

Religious groups are expected to gather at Divine Playhouse on Friday to “join in prayer for the souls of the people behind this desecration”. Officers will be present at the protest, a NSW police spokesperson said.

The City of Sydney is considering a proposal to redevelop the church into luxury apartments.

Miller, Create NSW and Dopper have been contacted for comment.