Warning: Graphic language
Police have launched an investigation after drag artist Gøthic says they were physically attacked and subjected to verbal abuse in what the performer alleges was a homophobic attack in Sydney’s north last week.
The incident occurred on Monday last week as Dan Varon Villamil, who goes by the stage name Gøthic Marika, was walking towards Milsons Point train station while not in drag. Villamil filmed part of the incident and shared it on social media.
“This guy start[ed] yelling ‘God hates you faggot’,” Villamil told Gay Sydney News, recalling the part of the incident not captured on film.
“I started recording him [and] he kept going with homophobic slurs and throwing random stuff at me that he found around, then he came close to me and kicked me.
“That’s when I called the police, then he met another two guys and they left.
“I tried to follow them but at some point they went to a smaller and quieter street, so I was scared of following three guys there. The police arrived, they were really supportive and I reported him.”
Vision of the incident filmed by Villamil and uploaded online shows a man wearing a dark grey long-sleeve sweatshirt, black knee-length shorts, a crossbody bag strap, over-ear headphones and black and white running shoes threatening and taunting Villamil while close to their face.
“Keep backing up you bitch,” the unknown man repeatedly says to Villamil while they both point their phones at each other in close proximity.
“Do you want me to hit you?” the man can be heard saying.
“What are you going to do? You’re not going to touch me,” responds Villamil.
The man then appears to kick Villamil, saying afterwards: “Ooo, I touched you.
Villamil is then heard asking a passerby to call the police.
“If you call the police I am bashing him. I’m bashing him,” says the man to the passerby.
The passerby responds that they are a Christian and “Christians don’t bash”.
The man then repeatedly threatens to slap Villamil’s phone out of their hands before appearing to do just that.
“Stop filming,” the man says. “Stop filming me, stop filming me.”
NSW Police confirmed officers from North Shore Police Area Command began an investigation following a report of an assault on Broughton Street, Milsons Point, about 6pm on Monday last week.
Police did not respond to a Gay Sydney News question asking if the incident would be investigated as a hate crime.
“Police were told a 26-year-old man was approached by an unknown man who made offensive comments,” police said. “Following an argument, the man threw a crate at the 26-year-old man.
“Police were told the 26-year-old man was then kicked in the stomach and his phone was grabbed out of his hand before he took it back. Officers attended the scene however could not locate the unknown man.”
Inquiries into the incident are ongoing, police said, and no arrests or charges had been laid as of Sunday.
Police said the victim had given a statement to police and that “additional independent information” had also been provided.
As of Tuesday, NSW Police had not posted a photo of the man on its social media accounts to seek public assistance in identifying him, as is common in some cases involving an unknown person of interest.
For this reason, as well as other legal considerations, Gay Sydney News has chosen to only publish a photo of the man with his face pixelated.
Separate to last week’s incident, Villamil said they had noticed an increase in homophobia around Sydney.
“I honestly think that, at least on Oxford Street, the biggest problem is [straight nightclub] Noir bringing aggressive and homophobic straight people to LGBTIQ+ spaces,” Villamil said, adding that they feel unsafe on the gay strip.
“I try to walk in groups most of the time but on one occasion I was walking in full drag by myself and a group of guys just in front of Noir started yelling ‘What the f— is that, that’s disgusting’.”
Noir has previously said it doesn’t condone homophobia and that it has taken steps to stamp it out.
“We stand with the [queer] community,” Noir co-founder Ronny Dubé has previously told Gay Sydney News.
“I think the misconstrued perception at the moment is that anything that’s happened [to do with homophobia on Oxford Street] … we’ve condoned it in some way, shape or form.
“[That’s] really not the case. We’ve always been on the lookout for any kind of anti-social behaviour, anything that’s homophobic or transphobic or anything of the sort.”
Last Monday’s incident follows another on February 1 involving a well-known Sydney drag queen being found unconscious and with head injuries near Oxford Street in what is being investigated by police as a suspected robbery attack. That drag queen was in full drag at the time of the incident.
Gay Sydney News editor