Adelaide Australia Race Track Holds Gay And Lesbian Race Day Unleashes Torrent Of Homophobic Abuse

A South Australian race club is running a gay and lesbian race day; the inaugural Pink Diamond Day scheduled for Saturday at Adelaide’s Morphettville track, but as the Advertiser reports, the South Australia Jockey Club has been inundated with angry, anti-gay responses from regular race attendee’s intent on boycotting the event. SAJC chief executive Brenton Wilkinson says staff have received abusive phone calls and outraged e-mails from members, including one that wrote the track should not be promoting a day celebrating “a bunch of asspushers and others dressed in pink,” adding “you’ve lost this homophobic for the day ... Adelaide is not Sydney in the gay stakes.” Mr. Wilkinson says “We’re disappointed some people have taken offence that we have got involved with a large festival that has been here successfully for 13 years. One guy rang up and abused the girls in sales and said we shouldn’t be supporting ‘poofters’ and things like this – that’s not proper. It’s hard to know what to say to people, but attendance is not compulsory and people can make their own choices.” The event is being run in conjunction with the city’s 13th annual gay and lesbian film festival.