Protestors reportedly belonging to a group known as Christian Lives Matter marched through the inner-city suburb of Newtown during Sydney’s WorldPride on Friday night.
Video footage of the incident shows the group of men chanting the lord’s prayer while walking the streets and being escorted by police.
Videos show an anti-LGBTQIA+ protest going through Newtown tonight during Sydney’s World Pride. It was a large group of mostly men chanting/praying.
It appears the protest was organised out of an online group Christian Lives Matter. pic.twitter.com/33FeKs4u9N
— cameron wilson (@cameronwilson) March 3, 2023
Rare non-cop spot tonight, stay safe if you’re in Newtown – we’ve received reports of this anti-LGBTQIA+ group walking the streets chanting the Lord’s Prayer. pic.twitter.com/BcY0IXq77c
— Sniff Off (@sniff_off) March 3, 2023
Both allies and members of the LGBTQIA+ community took to Twitter to warn those in Newtown of the protest, and “to be safe”.
One critic alleged the men weren’t aiming to protest as much as they were attempting to make their presence known to the broader queer community.
https://twitter.com/comrade_emery/status/1631600975910952962
https://twitter.com/ryanjchr/status/1631642927305986048
A spokesperson for the NSW Police has since told the Star Observer that around eight o’clock “officers attached to Inner West Police Area Command, along with specialist police resources attended King Street, Newtown, in relation to unauthorised protest activity.”
“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.
“While we won’t comment on specific individuals or groups, the community can be assured we continue to monitor activities and will take action where appropriate,” they said.
According to Crikey journalist Cameron Wilson, the same group confronted an elderly Christian woman while she was painting a church staircase rainbow last week.
The group was reported on earlier this week for posting a video of someone confronting a elderly Christian woman painting a rainbow staircase at a church that was later vandalised https://t.co/xKE3Yez2Lr
— cameron wilson (@cameronwilson) March 3, 2023
Charlie Bakhos, the leader of the group, filmed the confrontation and also filmed himself destroying the steps later on with grey paint per news.com.au.
Bakhos, who has over 15,000 followers on Instagram regularly posts hard-line religious content.
In a recent upload, the activist co-opted the Black Lives Matter slogan to read “Christian Lives Matter”.
In a separate post, Bakhos claims to be organising a “legal class action” and further protests in Sydney on the 11th and 18th of March.
These are set to occur in Hyde Park and outside the Channel 10 offices. Possibly because this is where The Project‘s episode from this past week which featured a joke about Jesus by queer comedian Reuben Kaye was filmed.
