Talk:Tasty nightclub raid

Categories

There are two categories that could potentially be added to this article; "LGBT History" and "LGBT Civil Rights". I was about to add them, but then wondered if they're appropriate. Was the raid ever conclusively linked with homophobia, or was the fact the venue was a gay venue irrelevant? I'm hoping someone with more knowledge of the event can have a say. BTW - there was a great doco on this recently, though I can't remember the title. Cnwb 22:56, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

I've got a book on the incident someplace (yet to find). The incident did involve a large number of gay people I believe. Some reports say the Tasty was known as a gay club. Check the reference for info on the documentary. -- Longhair 22:58, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

While it may not have been conclusively linked to homophobia in any official capacity, I think that's pretty obvious. It was absolutely unprecedented for its era, and the documentary Cwnb mentions (which I've already seen) makes a fairly clear case as to why homophobia was responsible. One must also remember the context of the times; we've come a very long way towards acceptance of gay issues in the last decade. With this in mind, I think both categories are entirely fitting; there's a reason why this case has been referred to as Australia's Stonewall, even if the backlash was with a lawsuit as opposed to missiles. Ambi 02:43, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Almost all gay (it was a gay club after all) Homophobia had a lot to with it and that that of intimidation. It was the Kennett years and the police at the time had been let off the leash as it were. The cops didnt expect the political fallout-a few of the patrons had legal backgrounds and respectable mums and dads. Ive just edited the entry to show its legal repercussions. 128.250.87.53 03:57, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

I guess my question is; does the LGBT community consider this an important event in their community history, and therefore, does it warrant the inclusion of the aforementioned categories? Yes, it was a predominantly gay venue, but was it considered that the police were specifically targeting this community, or was it merely incidental? Cnwb 04:22, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

It was an important event for ALL of us. Initally it was a drug raid- I was told that when the cops first entered there was a shower of foil as people emptied their 'stashes' But the cops no doubt thought that a bunch of poofs could be pushed around- and abused their powers. Ive also been told that some of the cops were, on an individual basis, embarrassed and horrified at what they had been ordered to do. It could perhaps be put ino legal and police, police corruption, and civil rights category-but that my opinion. I still think it was redolent of 'kennettism' 128.250.87.53

It wasn't incidental; I really don't think there can be any serious doubt that it was targeting the gay community, as I think that's the accepted explanation both in the gay community and in the mainstream press. It's certainly an important event, too; it could be said that it marked a turning point in the community's history in Australia. As I said above, it's not for no reason that it's been compared to Stonewall. Ambi 02:43, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

There were other raids at the time (in fact there are raids all the time--even as we type) I think the fact that the raid was at gay club was incidental, the gay community,(what ever that is) may claim it as there own but its repercussions are for all of us to be aware. The resistance to the police was later in the courts. Normally police searches are performed on people with no political nous or influence. To compare it to 'Stonewall' is not only wrong but demeans the whole incident. Lets celebrate the political power of Melbournites. 128.250.87.56 03:14, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Bah. How many times in the last twenty years (or indeed, ever in Australia) has a club been raided, had all of its patrons strip-searched and cavity searched and resulted in a media scandal and a successful class action? Oh, that's right, just the one. Ambi 03:29, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

'Mandate' 1980 Stkilda, Ivy club sth yarra 1988,I know it may bemuse you but the world did not begin in 1990. And Im sure the Albury hotel in Darlinghurst has been raided(it was an abe saffron dive only in its early years) Individuals are searched all the time-- as Ill repeat-- again. What the difference was that 'respectable' people were searched.128.250.87.56 03:41, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

This wasn't an ordinary raid. It's not that every patron was searched. It's that every patron was effectively held captive for about seven hours, stripsearched, cavity searched, and in some cases, beaten on top of that. There's a very massive difference there. Ambi 03:48, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

So youre saying that in the last 13 years only the patrons of tasty have been stripped searched?, cavity searched?, held for detention for seven hours?, beaten?, humiliated?, if so I think you should get out more. 128.250.87.56 03:55, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Sources? Ambi 04:41, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

On another note, does anyone mind if I remove the Australian crime category and template from this article? While my personal bias on this topic is pretty obvious, it might be just mildly biased in the other direction to be referring to the raid as a criminal act. Ambi 02:45, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

I've removed it. It's not entirely representative of what occured. -- Longhair 03:44, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

I've got to admit, I was puzzled about the crime category, but I was too focussed on getting the LGBT categories right first. Cnwb 05:47, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

The .jpg (Promotional card) shown is not genuine. I will post a genuine one when I get the chance. SDJ 15.02.08 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.49.130.14 (talk) 06:54, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Club location

It's a bit difficult to state that the club was on Flinders Lane. That's not entirely accurate. The venue was on the ground (and slightly sub) floor of Commerce House on Flinders Street. There was a back door, that led through a small arched alley (which is still there) to Flinders Lane.

I never went to Tasty (although I knew one of the lighting guys who was in the raid and saw the bruises from the mag torch), but if entry was similar to Axiom (the goth club run at the same venue on Thursday nights) then entry would have been from Flinders Street.

A few years later Commerce House was condemned due to the presence of asbestos. It was then gutted, refitted, gained a new facade and is now the Duxton Hotel. The old club area is the car park. --BenM 08:32, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

The entrance to the Commerce Club was via Flinders Street. When we opened as 'Tasty' we decided that patrons should enter from Flinders Lane for safety. SDJ (Razor Promotions) 15/02/08 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.49.130.14 (talk) 06:58, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I was involved in the raid so can add some clarification to some above statements. Tasty Nightclub was thought, by the Victorian Police to be a primarily gay men venue and hence when they arrive it was mostly male police officers, this is what added to our detention as the club was 50/50 male/female and they had to get more female officers in. I know this as I overheard many conversations the police had. Tasty is best described as being a queer venue, not gay. Queer can take many meanings and that is what made it THE place to be. If you weren't a member you had little chance of getting in. The entry was from Flinders Lane not Street. I will never forget that night as I was 17 at the time and scared my life was over. I will never forget after being searched - yes torch and all in full view of two other patrons, to get out I had to provide ID and confirm my current address. The officer got frustrated when he couldn't find my ID due to the large amount of cards I had in my wallet that he pushed me against the wall and asked for my name, date of birth and address. I gave my real name & address but faked my birth year to appear legal. He then pushed me out of the club. I did not plan to be involved in the class action due to fear about being underage but I was convinced by my then boyfriend to talk to the organiser. They convinced me to be involved as the Victorian Police had already stated they had checked the ID of EVERY patron there, and my being underage without any fake ID clearly proved their claim to be false. I never went to court for the matter, I dealt with a lawyer at Slater & Gordon over the phone about 8 times. I eventually received a payout of $15,000 and the lawyers got $2,000 of that. It was clearly a historic part of the Gay/Lesbian/Queer history and should be remembered a such. The level of homophobia shown that night should never be forgotten or not seen for what it was. It should also be noted it was a turning point with the Victorian Police. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.3.22.113 (talk) 03:43, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

General comment

I was expecting a lot more from this entry before visiting it. I have no firsthand experience of Tasty but I saw the documentary on SBS and know from that that there were lots and lots of people involved in this raid and affected by it, and therefore lots of stories and information have finally been made public via the doco, yet very little of this seems to be reflected in the article. It seems there are several very literate contributors to this background discussion, but the article itself does not read very well. For instance the part about drugs at nightclubs being a "problem" - for whom? Only for those who take them surely? Were there any (or many) OD's or ambo visits at Tasty? I don't take illegal drugs but to me that part just seems a bit preachy and it's not what I visited the entry to find.

It's a while since I've seen the documentary, but from memory doesn't it retrace the events of the night by approximate timeframe? It would be really good if this article did a similar thing, matter of factly pointing out the actual events and how they transpired, and who from the Police force and government was involved (if they've been named already in the documentary), the effect on patrons, the public and the gay scene generally, and the legal aftermath. If I can find the DVD anywhere I'll do it myself. 58.96.65.51 (talk) 09:21, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

OK, I've done my best with it, over to you guys now. Pete3194 (talk) 10:30, 11 January 2009 (UTC)