Sydney LGBTQ+ arts venue faces eviction threat after landlord orders it to stop 'offensive trade'

A former church turned queer-friendly arts venue in Sydney is facing possible eviction after its landlord issued a breach notice and ordered it to stop operating as an "offensive trade". The venue, Divine Playhouse, has already been forced to close and cancel planned events while its organisers consider legal action. The dispute follows protests by religious groups over the venue's opening night.

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The notice was issued to the venue's organisers, Heaps Gay Events, and named the landlord as commercial property group KCSYD Pty Ltd. Lawyers acting for the landlord said the trade had "insulted and mocked the sincerely held religious beliefs of millions of Christian Australians". The venue's promoter and founder, Kat Dopper, said the organisers acted in good faith and remained committed to meeting their obligations as tenants while they explore their legal options.

Divine Playhouse is housed in a former church in Sydney's central business district that was deconsecrated in the 1930s and has mostly been used as a theatre since. Organisers had intended the pop-up to operate as a safe and inclusive queer-friendly arts space. Dopper said the venue now faces significant operational, legal and financial challenges as a result of the dispute.

The case has become a local flashpoint over the boundaries between artistic expression, religious sensitivity and commercial tenancy rights. The opening-night protests and the landlord's response have placed the venue at the centre of a wider argument about how public performance spaces are used and who gets to define what is acceptable in them. For Sydney's independent arts sector, the dispute also raises questions about the fragility of short-term cultural projects that depend on leased premises.

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According to the organisers, the year-long lease was expected to support more than 1,500 artists, producers, performers, technicians, small creative businesses and staff. They also said the project was due to invest A$650,000 into the independent arts sector. That scale helps explain why the closure has immediate consequences beyond the venue itself, affecting workers and planned performances as well as the broader creative ecosystem.

The dispute is unfolding in a city where temporary arts spaces often rely on complex property arrangements and limited financial margins. In this case, the venue's location in a former church has added symbolic weight to an otherwise local landlord-tenant conflict. The fact that the opening night drew protests from religious groups has also sharpened attention on the language used in the breach notice and the legal arguments that may follow.

What remains unclear is whether the landlord will proceed with eviction or whether the organisers can reach a resolution that allows the venue to reopen. It is also not yet known what legal grounds, if any, will be tested if the matter goes to court. For now, the venue remains closed, the planned events are cancelled, and the organisers say they are assessing their next steps.

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