Newtown Restaurant Speaks Out After Copping Anti-LGBTQ+ Graffiti on Their Rainbow Flag
Image: Photos: Pistou / Facebook
A French restaurant in Newtown has been targeted in a disturbing act of anti-LGBTQIA+ graffiti this week, after a large cross was spray-painted over its rainbow Progress Pride flag.
Pistou, located at 601 King Street, has always been a safe and welcoming space for queer locals. But on Tuesday morning, Head Chef Ben Scobie arrived to find the restaurant’s front window defaced.
“It must have happened between Sunday evening when we closed, because seven o’clock on Sunday the manager left and there was no nothing on the window,” Scobie said. “I came in on Tuesday, and yeah, I saw the X over the Pride flag.”
“And yeah, I was a little bit devo’d,” he told Star Observer.
Scobie, who is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, said the moment felt jarring, and tells Star Observer he cleaned it off himself immediately.
“Being queer myself, I don’t really want to have that on the fucking window of the restaurant that I’m head chef at,” he said.
Pistou call out graffiti: ‘This wasn’t art—it was hate’
Scobie says were management immediately supportive, and decided to share an image of graffiti on their social media in a show of support for the local LGBTQIA+ community and their staff.
“This morning we were saddened to see a cross spray‑painted over the Pride flag in Pistou’s front window on King Street, Newtown. It’s a deeply hurtful act in a spot meant to be safe and welcoming,” reads the post on Pistou’s social media.
“Newtown is world famous for vibrant, thoughtful street art… This however, wasn’t art—it was hate.
“If you’re around this week, please pop into Pistou… Come say hi, and help fill the space with love, not hate! Let Ben and the team know they’re seen, supported and appreciated.”
“I’m the only queer in the restaurant, so I was the most affected by it,” Ben explained to Star Observer. “You shouldn’t [feel] targeted at work.”
“But it’s never been a problem here before. Usually the graffiti is everywhere else except for on the restaurant — and it’s never really hate-filled.”
In a suburb that’s long been a queer haven, the incident has prompted uncomfortable questions — why the sudden boost in anti-LGBTQIA+ hate?
“It’s probably silly of me, but I think it’s because of America; all this shit in their politics at the moment, like denying the existence of non-binary people and trans people,” explained Scobie.
“It is bringing up shit in people, which makes them come out to places where they know that the LGBTQIA+ population is higher, and target people.
“They feel like they have the right to speak now, and they use it in horrible ways.”
‘Maybe our bubble is not always safe… but this space still is’
Scobie reiterated that the Pistou team have absolutely no plans to remove the rainbow flag.
“It’s very important that people know that we’re a safe space, that they can come here,” he said. “I would never take it down.”
When asked why the team chose to speak out publicly on social media, his message is clear: “I just think it’s not like something that is normal around here. And also our local community [is] supportive of me and us and queer representation. So I think it was important.”
And his message to the local LGBTQIA+ community in Newtown?
“Hold on to the reins, because it’s like, ‘We’re still here’. Maybe our [LGBTQIA+] bubble is not always safe… but this space still is.”
Anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti incidents spike in major cities
Disturbingly, anti-LGBTQIA+ graffiti attacks appear to have been increasing in recent months.
Just a few weeks ago, gay venue The Laird Hotel in Melbourne copped a swathe of homophobic graffiti across its exterior.
The graffiti featured an image of Ned Kelly with the words “Ned Hates F*gs”. The beloved gay venue kept their doors open for their usual Sunday session that day, covering up the vandalism with Pride flags so patrons didn’t have to see it.
