Around 30 men were filmed ominously praying and holding rosary beads above their heads during Australia’s World Pride event, in what the police confirmed was “unauthorized protest activity.”
The men taking to one of Sydney’s most popular entertainment strips to “pray the gay away” was streamed to a Facebook page called Christian Lives Matter. One member wrote “Huge turnout with the boys praying powerful rosary in Newtown tonight. #christianlivesmatter.”
Newtown is home to several popular gay bars and hosted many Pride Inner West events amid World Pride celebrations across the city.
Timothy Collis, who was out to dinner with friends, filmed the marching men. He said the protest felt intimidating so his group of friends stayed inside the hotel while it was happening.
“When we got outside the Marly Hotel, we saw a bunch of police in front of 30-40 guys wearing black … walking on the footpath chanting the Hail Mary,” Collis said, according to The Guardian. “Everyone kind of realized what was going on with the religious chanting and huge police presence that it was an … anti-pride protest.”
Writer and Newtown local Millie Roberts said the group tried to get into the Bank Hotel, which regularly hosts gay events, but were refused.
“They were walking down being disruptive, there was police on either side shepherding them through,” Roberts said. “It was very tense.”
The New South Wales police confirmed in a statement that evening officers had faced “unauthorized” protesters. “Police spoke with a group of about 30 people who marched along the footpath on King Street, Newtown, before dispersing just before 9pm. No arrests were made.”
The Christian Lives Matter group’s Facebook page features multiple posts critical of gay activism and pride. Recently, CLM condemned prime minister Anthony Albanese for marching in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras as an ally.
“I’m not going to tell you who to vote for but this will show you who to make sure you don’t vote for ever again,” the caption read. “What a sad day to be Australian.”
Greens MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong, called the march “disgraceful.”
“Our Newtown community wears with pride our diversity – and we celebrate difference,” she wrote on Twitter. “(This) is not welcome on our streets.”
