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Landlords have shut the door on the LGBTQ+ desecration of a former Sydney Catholic Church and theatre named after saints.

Concerned critics said St John the Evangelist, which had previously also served as a school for the poor and a men’s shelter, was being used to mock Christianity in the name of art.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the club was “slated to host live music, cabaret shows and performances — most of it adopting Catholic themes and names.”

Dubbed as an “experimental nightclub” and the brain-burp of LGBTQ+ company Heaps Gay Events, the former church was branded “The Unholy Playhouse.”

Organisers quickly changed this to “The Divine Playhouse” after media attention attracted an apparently unexpected flood of public criticism.

Owners Issue Notice of Breach of Lease

St John’s current owners, Anthony El-Hazouri and Charbel Hazzouri (Revelop), caught wind of the proposed use, then “issued a notice of breach of the lease over offensive trade.”

Heaps Gay founder, Kat Dopper, said her company “had acted in good faith throughout this whole process and remains committed to meeting our obligations as tenants and working towards a constructive resolution.”

Dopper claims the group was “being silenced,” and has said they are “exploring legal options.”

Sydney’s alt-news site CityHub blamed “radical Christian groups” for the cancellation.

They were referring to Christian Ministries Fit for the Kingdom (FFTK) and The Prodigal Sons (TPS).

Both ministries gathered over 150 Christians to pray outside the 158-year-old church building last week.

Saying it without stating it, CityHub accused the two groups of selective outrage, and insinuated that they were “seeking to prevent [those who identify as] LGBTQ+ from expressing themselves.”

Confirming the context, CityHub quoted Revelop’s breach of lease notice, which read:

“We note that the trade carried on by HG Events has been the subject of significant protest and public criticism, given its offensive nature.

“Such offensive trade has caused, and will continue to cause, grievance and disturbance to owners of adjoining properties and to the general public.

“In circumstances where future public protests are almost certain to occur and are likely to endanger members of the public, our client considers that the time by which the offensive trade is to cease is reasonable.”

On Instagram, Fit for the Kingdom founder, Tomas Mones-Cazon, said: “What makes this worse? The club is openly supported and funded by the NSW Government through Create NSW.”

“Taxpayer money from hardworking people including Christians is being used to desecrate a sacred heritage building and mock the Christian faith that helped build this nation.”

“This would never be allowed for Islam or Judaism,” he protested, “There would be immediate outrage, protests and government intervention.”

A second prayer vigil outside St John’s is planned for 17 July.

NSW State Government Funding Christian Mockery

Validating Mones-Cazon’s claims, Australasian Leisure Management (ALM) confirmed that the NSW State Government had contributed 100,000 dollars to the venue.

Now removed, Heaps Gay’s insensitive marketing and social media posts are what first drew public attention to the LGBTQ+ club’s blatant mockery of Christianity.

For example, ALM recalled the former church being marketed as a “Sanctuary for Divine Mischief.”

Heaps Gay also openly “promoted events using Christian language and symbolism.”

This included “promotional material featuring drag performers dressed as nuns and religious imagery.”

Images that have resurfaced online show “The Divine Playhouse” mocking the Eucharist using McDonald’s fries and a man dressed as a pig.

One post shows a crucifix attached to a BDSM “dog collar.” Another picture shows someone wearing stiletto heels with a cross on the soles.

Others show a clear mockery of Christian ritual and liturgy being performed within St John’s.

‘Neither Respect Nor Tolerance’

The Australian Christians Party backed the owner’s cease and desist notice.

Maryka Groenewald stated in a press release that “even after deconsecration, Church buildings remain places that still carry deep spiritual and cultural significance for believers.”

“They shouldn’t be used as backdrops for explicit entertainment that mocks or trivialises the Christian faith.”

The Western Australian Legislative member then protested the double standard, rightly arguing that this is the “same political lobby that constantly speaks about ‘respect’ and ‘tolerance’.”

Now they’re “trying to bully a landlord into hosting events that show neither respect nor tolerance for the Christian worldview.”

“Sydney is not short of nightlife venues or performance spaces.

“It again raises a fair question: why the determination to stage these particular activities in churches?

“We want the [owners of St John’s] to know they are not alone.”

“Many Christians and common-sense Australians can see the double standard at work,” Groenewald added, stating that they “are grateful for their willingness to draw a line in defence of Christian morality and basic respect.”

Reading the room, Family First’s Lyle Shelton simply said, “Imagine if this happened to Islam?”

Imagine if this was Islam. pic.twitter.com/6AcbdcNVor

— Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) July 13, 2026

In a Family First statement published online, he added, “The Minns Government would never dream of funding an arts project devoted to mocking Islam’s prophet Muhammad or ridiculing Islamic religious practices.

“There would be an immediate public outcry and possibly violence. Christianity should be afforded the same respect.”

History of St John the Evangelist

Built in 1868, St John the Evangelist was deconsecrated in the 1930s.

The Catholic Press reported in 1938 that a “gradual clearing out of the residential population” had shifted the building’s usefulness.

Kent Street was being transformed into a commercial hub.

St John’s “carried on as a school, but even that was discontinued as there was no longer either any people or children to be served.”

As The Sydney Morning Herald wrote one month later: when St John’s on Kent was built, “sunlight flooded through its windows. From its front door there was a view of the harbour.”

“Today the church is wedged between large commercial buildings.”

After the people had moved on, the church building was “rented out for secular purposes.”

In 1938 the church reintegrated the building back into its Christian mission. Priests from St Mary’s Cathedral proposed using the church as a hostel for the down and out.

Consequently, St John’s on Kent became the first site of the Matthew Talbot Hostel, Sydney’s long-running Saint Vincent de Paul’s men’s shelter.

From 1952–2020, the Gothic, Victorian-style, stone building served as the home of The Genesian Theatre, named after St Genesius, the patron saint of actors.

Now it’s being used by the LGBTQ+, who, with the monetary blessing of Labor politicians, are funding the mockery of Christianity behind the guise of “art” and “freedom of expression”.

As evidenced by the recent Australian Christian Freedom Index, the 21^st century now offers plenty of examples showing the consequences of de-Christianisation.

The abuse of St John’s and the “be tolerant — don’t shove your religion down our throats — love is love” hypocrisy attached to it is one of the loudest.

Christians repeatedly deployed St John’s to serve the community; homosexuals are now using it to serve their own self-interests.

The difference between the two groups does not get any clearer than that.

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Image via Wikipedia Commons.