Christian Group Targets Aussie Mall Over Gay Christmas Event

Conservative Christian group Family Voice is upset over plans by a retail mall chain to celebrate LGBTQI-themed Christmas events at its shopping centres across Western Australia. 

Family Voice has accused Westfield of attempting to “homosexualise Christmas” and exposing children to what it called “the queer agenda”. 

Earlier this month, Westfield announced that it would host LGBTQI-themed Christmas events on November 19 at its shopping centres to coincide with state-wide Pride Fest 2022 celebrations. 

Gay Christmas With Santa

The inclusive Christmas celebrations are scheduled to be held at all Westfield centres in WA, including Westfield Booragoon, Westfield Carousel, Westfield Whitford City and Westfield Innaloo.

The event, ‘Living Proud this Christmas’,  would include “Santa photography sessions with pride props, face-painting, drag queens, and roaming entertainment.”

The ad campaign for the event featured photos of rainbow families posing with Santa. The retail chain said that proceeds from the events would go to the Perth-based LGBTQI group, Living Proud WA. 

Family Voice Rails Against Queer Agenda

Family Voice, which has previously opposed gay marriages and LGBTQI law reforms, was not exactly thrilled with Westfield’s plans. The group claims to be the “Christian voice promoting true family values for the benefit of all Australians”. They accused Westfiled of turning “family-friendly shopping malls into a day-long gay pride venue at Christmas”.

“Christmas is a sacred time of year. It should not be highjacked to promote divisive sexual ideologies,” railed Family Voice’s David d’Lima.

“Families visiting shopping centres should be confident that their children will not be exposed to the queer agenda when shopping. Mums and dads will have a hard time explaining why same-sex relationships should be celebrated,” claimed d’Lima. 

Committed To An Inclusive Culture, Says Westfield

Scentre Group owns and operates Westfield shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand. The group was named a Silver Employer in the Australian Workplace Equality Index at the 2022 Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards. This is the first time that the group is participating in PrideFest.

“The initiative is part of a much broader commitment to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture year-round within all our Westfield Living Centres and across our entire business, celebrating days of significance such as Wear it Purple Day and Mardi Gras,” said Scentre Group WA Regional Manager Centre Experience, Lachlan Monfries.

Living Proud, WA Chairperson, Barry Cosker, said that the event would be “welcomed by rainbow families across Perth” and added that funds raised would “assist Living Proud in supporting the wellbeing of the wider community and assist in other organisations becoming more inclusive of the LGBTIQ+ community.”