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Graffiti sprayed late at night along a number of shopfronts and marquees on Fitzroy’s Gertrude Street has marred the closing event of Melbourne’s LGBTQ+ Midsumma Festival.
Police were called to the area at 11.50pm on Saturday after a group of people were seen vandalising structures set up for the annual Pride Street Party on Sunday.
After police arrived, the group fled through Atherton Gardens towards Napier Street. Police patrolling the area later found more graffiti along walls on Smith Street.
Police said one of the people involved in the vandalism was seen carrying a machete.
The slogans – which were plastered across marquees, shopfronts and homes – were cleaned off by residents, traders and Midsumma staff and volunteers early on Sunday morning.
The event’s organisers said the graffiti and posters included the phrases “No Pride on Stolen Land”, “No Police at Pride” and “Boycott Midsumma”.
Felicity McIntosh, the deputy CEO of Midsumma Festival, said a significant clean-up was needed before thousands of people descended on Fitzroy on Sunday to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
She said the graffiti was not peaceful protest, but rather “vandalism that caused distress, financial impact and unnecessary harm” to locals who supported the festival each year.
“Victoria’s Pride is the single biggest trading day of the year for many small, independently run local businesses who actively support and welcome our communities,” McIntosh said.
“It is deeply disappointing that they, along with local residents, were targeted in this way.
“Midsumma believes in respectful dialogue, even when conversations are difficult. Targeting homes and businesses overnight does not advance those conversations.”
According to the Star Observer, similar slogans including “Boycott Midsumma” were spray-painted on LGBTQ+ venues in Fitzroy and Collingwood in January last year. It is unclear if the same group of activists are responsible for Saturday night’s graffiti.
Police officers did not participate in last year’s Midsumma Pride March in St Kilda, after organisers banned participants marching in formal work uniforms, and did not approve a request from Victoria Police for its members to walk in uniform.
In February 2024, about 50 protesters confronted police as they marched in the parade along Fitzroy Street, throwing paint and chanting “cops kill queers”.
This is the fifth year the Pride Street Party has been held, with the event capping off the three week-long Midsumma Festival.
A police spokeswoman said investigations were ongoing, and there was “no place at all in our society for hate-based symbols and behaviour”.
The City of Yarra, the council where the street party is taking place, has been contacted for comment.
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