The owner of Christchurch’s only gay bar has upset local community members by ripping into a volunteer group set up to help glbti people reconnect after the devastating earthquakes, as well as numerous people running events and organisations. Cruz owner Bruce Williamson was not happy with a recent community planning workshop run by the UpRising Trust, which discussed initiatives arising from a ‘Share a Queer Idea’ session run in conjunction with CERA last year. More gay-friendly events and services emerged as a clear priority, along with promotion of gay-affirming messages by civic authorities and more prominent and vocal community leadership. In a Facebook posting, Williamson has slammed the material as “a crock of offensive and ignorant misinformation” and “political claptrap” which he claims was contrived by a “group of politically active and/or self-interested individuals”. “The gay scene that you people yearn for is now so far in the wilderness as a result of their sustained campaigns of destruction and vilification of anything that does not fit well with their own agendas that it will now, in my opinion, never resurface,” the bar owner says in one of many posts. He says the Christchurch gay scene is in a “terminally parlous state” and claims his business has copped “abuse, denigration, and sabotaging” by the community. Williamson also personally attacks a number of high-profile people working for community groups in posts which can’t be reported due to their potentially defamatory nature. In return, community members have raised concerns about Cruz and described Williamson’s attacks as “petty and childish”, with glbti event organiser Jill Stevens writing “And tell me what Cruz EVER does for the community??? Personal attacks on people ... who clearly give their own time for the good of the community is why people don't support you.” Youth group Q-Topia’s Anne Nicholson adds “Bruce is wrong, we are doing some great work [the meeting] was part of giving our wider community a voice and a say about their needs. I am excited about the future that we are creating and proud of what everyone there ... put in to it.” GayNZ.com Daily News has attempted to contact Williamson about his comments, and for response to allegations raised by an ex staff member about the operation of his bar in the posts, but has received no reply.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 7th July 2014 - 12:34pm