LGBT Group Opens Blasphemous Club in Old Catholic Church
UPDATE: Read the update here.
Unholy Playground is a club that is opening in a deconsecrated Catholic Church in Sydney with demonic imagery and blasphemy of the Most Holy Eucharist.
Old St Johns Church Swaps Hands
St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church was built in 1868 and remained a prominent Catholic Church until the interwar period when the church was deconsecrated in 1932. In 1938 it became a hostel run by the St Vincent de Paul society. This was during the Great Depression when unemployment peaked at 32%. Then in 1954, it was transformed into the Genesian Theatre, an amateur company founded by members of the Sydney Catholic Youth Organisation. Throughout this period, the Archdiocese of Sydney retained ownership of the church but repurposed it to meet the needs of the time.
However, in 2017, the Archdiocese ordered the Genesian Theatre to vacate and sold the church to Venemchlo, a private property developer. [1] They then sold the Church to Revelop, another property developer owned by Maronite Lebanese Anthony El-Hazouri and Charbel Hazzouri. [2] It is this developer duo that have leased the church to infamous LGBT entrepreneur Kat Dopper, owner of the new nightclub Unholy Playhouse.
Blasphemy and Sacrilege
The nightclub, which is being hosted in this historic Catholic Church, has purposefully used it's marketing to mock the Most Holy Eucharist, The Holy Mass, Holy Water, The Sacrament of Confession, The Rite of Exorcism, among other sacred Catholic symbols and imagery. [3] The organisers have also promoted their events with demonic symbols and imagery, such as their “Witching Hour”. [4] The club will host stripteases, drag queen shows and explicit LGBT events within the church.
Despite the blatant blasphemy and sacrilege that this club is planning to engage in within this historic church, there has been no comment from the Archdiocese or His Grace Archbishop Anthony Fisher, nor from the Maronite developers who own the church. There has only been praise from the secular and LGBT media, calling the project, “the city’s most delightfully sinful new venue… described as bizarre, hedonistic, debaucherous and sacred.” [5]
Also read: How the LGBT-lobby tries to influence your children
Funded by NSW taxpayers
One of most egregious parts of this, is that this blasphemy and sacrilege is being funded taxpayer money. The NSW Labor government, headed by Catholic Premier Chris Minns, has given funding to Unholy Playhouse through Create NSW, a program used to fund the arts and cultural projects in NSW. [6] This is the same government that recently passed highly controversial laws in the name of ‘social cohesion’. [7]
The sweeping anti-protest and anti-hate speech laws in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack were introduced to support the Jewish community and were drafted in consultation with them for the explicit purpose of promoting social cohesion. However, it seems that Christians are left out of the picture as the government directly funds extremely offensive projects to Christian sensibilities, which causes a rupture in social cohesion. While the exact amount given to Unholy Playhouse is unknown, the Create NSW grants can be up to $200,000.
Catholics Fighting Back
Thankfully, the Catholic community is not taking the blasphemy and sacrilege lying down. On the opening night of Unholy Playhouse, during their ‘First Rite’ event, approximately 120 Catholics held a prayer vigil outside the venue in reparation for, and as a public witness against, the offences caused by Unholy Playhouse. During the vigil, Catholics reported seeing performers dressed mockingly as Nuns, priests and angels standing at the entrance to try and provoke the crowd.
Many pedestrians showed their support to the Catholics and the crowd saw many people who initially tried to enter the club, turn away and leave after seeing their public witness. The people who turned out were brave and commendable for standing up for their faith. They vowed to return again for future prayer protests.
What You Can Do
While these prayer protesters are doing good work, there is something else we can also do, especially for those who can’t go and attend a prayer protest. Family in Danger is organising a petition to the owners of the Church, the Maronite property developers, to cancel the lease. We believe this property developer has no idea about this lease and that if it was brought to their attention, with enough public support, they would happily cancel the lease. If you think blasphemy and drag queens have no place in churches, sign the petition here.
References (We advise caution with clicking on some of these links, as some of them link to explicit and offensive material):
- https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/revealed-the-hotel-development-planned-for-the-old-genesian-theatre-site-61665/
- https://www.revelop.com.au/revelop-recasts-sydney-cbd-hotel-play-as-apartments
- https://www.instagram.com/divine.playhouse/, https://unholyplayhouse.com.au/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ80huBSP_u/
- https://qnews.com.au/unholy-playhouse-is-the-latest-mischievous-venue-from-the-brains-behind-heaps-gay/
- https://unholyplayhouse.com.au/
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/apr/20/minns-doubles-down-anti-protest-law-despite-nsw-highest-court-ruling-it-unconstitutional-ntwnfb