Investigation launched after two men stabbed by machete-wielding man in Australia’s LGBTQ+ mecca
One person has died and six were injured after a shooter targeted Minneapolis event Nudieland, a ‘safe space’ for queer and trans punks. (Getty Images)
Police have launched an investigation after two men were stabbed by a machete-wielding man outside a nightclub in Sydney’s LGBTQ+ hotspot.
Shortly after 3am on Saturday (29 July), emergency services responded to reports of a stabbing outside a nightclub in Oxford Street, Surry Hills – usually seen as a safe area for queer partygoers.
The incident resulted in one 25-year-old man being stabbed numerous times while another 34-year-old man, who tried to intervene, was also attacked.
Friends of the younger man drove him to St Vincent’s Hospital where he was admitted and remains in a serious but stable condition.
The other man was also taken to hospital for treatment to his left arm and right hand. He remains in a stable condition.
The suspect fled the scene on foot and was last seen running towards Palmer Street with several other men. A manhunt has been launched and police are urging witnesses to come forward.
The incident has left the LGBTQ+ community in the area shaken, with the founder of Youth Against Violence, Ouwais Menzel, urging the police to do all they can to keep the area safe.
He was “shocked” to learn about the stabbing but, according to The Weekend Australian, said it was just another example of how the dynamic along Oxford Street – previously seen as a safe area for LGBTQ+ partygoers – had changed recently.
The New Daily reported him as saying: “I hope that the NSW [News South Wales] police will now take the violence on Oxford Street seriously.”
In 2018, NSW police admitted that the unsolved deaths of a number of gay men were probably homophobic hate crimes.
The force previously discovered 88 cases where gay men had died under suspicious circumstances between 1970 and 1990 in Sydney and the surrounding area.
Anyone with information or footage of the incident can contact Surry Hills police or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000.
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