Locals in the trendy inner Melbourne suburb of Prahran have complained about their public pool being shut down for a homosexual event for the second time this year.
The Prahran Aquatic Centre, run by the Stonnington City Council, informed residents last week that the 50 metre pool would be closed on Saturday afternoon due to a Melbourne Fringe event called The Winner Takes It All.
The interactive art event is run by “provocative cultural deviants” The Huxleys for “citizens from the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies to enter a domain that they may have long dreamed of, but never been comfortable participating in”, according to the event website.
But Noticer News understands the decision to close the pool on a Saturday afternoon, a popular time to visit for families, children and those who work Monday to Friday, has upset regular users of the aquatic centre.
One local swimmer said: “It just pisses me off. They shut down a public pool (i.e 95% of the population) to please the 5% who are gay.”
The event is supported by ratepayers via the local council and taxpayers in general through Creative Victoria.
In January the pool was shut to the public for a Queer Pool Party event as part of the city’s homosexual Midsumma Festival, which this year prompted warnings for homosexual men to get tested and vaccinated for monkeypox. The virus remerged in Victoria during the same month and there have since been 311 infections state-wide.
This year’s Queer Pool Party was hosted by an indigenous “drag queen” named Cerulean, and photos from the event show the pool packed with mainly male attendees, some holding rainbow fans.
It was run by Thorne Harbour Health, an HIV/AIDS and LGBT community support charity which received almost $14 million in government funding in the last reporting period.
The Prahran Aquatic Centre has made regular posts about homosexual issues on its social media pages, and its most recent Christmas photo is a graphic reading Happy Holidays along with an image featuring a Star of David.
“No matter how you celebrate, we hope you are spending it with family, friends and loved ones. Happy holidays, from all of us at Prahran Aquatic Centre,” the caption reads.
Header image: A notice informing pool-goers of the closure, left (supplied). The 2024 Queer Pool Party, right (Thorne Harbour Health)
