- LGBTQ+ bondage mural in Sydney destroyed overnight
- It featured a teddy bear wearing a bondage outfit
Source: Dailymail.co.uk.
AUSTRALIA – SIDNEY – A ‘kink and BDSM-inspired’ mural has been vandalised in the middle of the night after many called for it to be removed.
The controversial painting on Wynyard Street in Sydney‘s CBD showed a hairy, overweight man wearing a leather bondage strap across his chest with a teddy bear head as he reclined on a sofa with a beer can and a gay pride flag.
It was designed to promote local shops during the WorldPride festival but sparked outrage and demands for the ‘creepy and sexualised’ image to be removed from the view of children.
The mural was placed close to one of the city’s busiest train and bus stations, also called Wynyard.
A video on social media showed the aftermath of the destruction as a police officer looked at the mural splashed with black and white paint.
A caption on the TikTok video read, ‘Wow! The people have spoken. Power to the people’.
YCK Laneways – a local retailer who sponsored it – said the mural was created for WorldPride, a global event celebrating queer culture currently being hosted in Sydney.
But many city workers and visitors called the mural ‘inappropriate’, particularly given the teddy bear image would capture the attention of children.
While most children would have little to no understanding of BDSM or bondage, some felt the mural would trigger uncomfortable conversations.
Catlin Roper, a spokesperson for Collective Shout, an organisation that campaigns against the infiltration of pornography into the mainstream, questioned why the mural was painted.
‘Whose idea was it to pair a teddy bear with BDSM for a public audience? This is creepy,’ she wrote in an online comment.
A second person wrote: ‘Why is a teddy bear in bondage meant to represent pride?!
‘The gay community worked hard for years to distance themselves from this sort of representation. Small children will be walking past this.’
Another angry commenter said: ‘How did YCK Laneways arrive at the conclusion that a furry/BDSM clad male would be suitable for kids to walk by in their own community? This mural need to be removed as soon as possible.’
A fourth person wrote: ‘Why would you think this is appropriate to display in public?!
‘A fat, hairy, alcohol drinking, bondage wearing teddy bear man on display where people walk past to go to work, and in full view of children.’
Others compared the disturbing correlation between childhood imagery and sexual fantasies to the Balenciaga scandal.
The upmarket fashion house was forced to apologise for an advertising image that included teddy bears dressed in bondage.
One Sydneysider shared his thoughts about the explicit painting on TikTok.
‘At what point does inclusiveness pass too far,’ user Moeyreacts said.
‘You’ve got a fat man who’s naked with a cute teddy bear hat, right in Wynyard.
‘This is disgusting, this is Balenciaga vibes.’
More than 1,000 viewers commented under the video with most calling for the mural to be scrapped.
‘I saw that on the way to work, was considering getting bucket of black paint and covering it,’ one wrote.
However, some people were in favour of the mural and told negative commenters to ‘look away’ if they have a problem with it.
A YCK spokesperson responded to the outrage, saying: ‘YCK Laneways is an inclusive precinct which welcomes and celebrates a variety of communities and sub-cultures from across Sydney.
‘The mural is in place to celebrate WorldPride and will be removed on 5 March.’
WorldPride said it was not associated with the painting.
