Experiences of homophobia 'happening every day' in Australia's most progressive city

Luke was only minutes into his first shift at his new workplace when he began hearing his colleagues making homophobic comments.

"I was scared out of my mind. I was fearing for my safety," Luke, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, said.

Since that day, the Canberra man has been left "terrified", saying he does not feel safe being himself in public.

"I feel if I go out in public, I am putting myself on the line every single time," he said.

"It's disappointing and it tears my heart out of my chest a bit because I just want to be happy being who I am."

But it was comments from his colleagues about the gay dating and hook-up app Grindr that concerned him the most.

"They started talking about how they were using Grindr to go around and beat up gay people," the sales assistant said.

"They were all laughing about it and smiling about it.

No charges following homophobic attacks

While it is unclear if Luke's colleagues were actually using Grindr to target gay people, his experience came just months after three homophobic attacks in Canberra, in which men reported being lured to meetings by fake or deceptive profiles on the dating app.

According to police, the victims were met by groups of teenagers and then assaulted and, in some cases, robbed and subjected to homophobic slurs.

ACT Policing identified 10 people of interest and executed 10 search warrants, but the matters did not proceed to court, at the request of the victims.

Joshua Anlezark, the CEO of LGBTQIA+ community organisation Meridian, said the attacks have had a lasting impact.

"It was really scary and really concerning for community that this was happening," he said.

Despite there being an "incredible richness and depth" to LGBTIQA+ communities in Canberra, Mr Anlezark said it could still feel like an isolating place for some people.

"We are seeing a global context where there is a permissiveness of hate speech and marginalisation," he said.

"There are experiences of homophobia, transphobia, biphobia and stigma around HIV happening in the ACT every day."

Reported cases are 'tip of the iceberg'

The attacks in Canberra are part of a wave of similar homophobic incidents around Australia.

Equality Australia's legal director Heather Corkhill said the perpetrators were almost always young men, seemingly radicalised online.

"I think it's actually chronically under reported, under charged and under prosecuted as an issue.

"We are definitely seeing an escalation in the amount of hate we see online and in person and also the severity of some of the crimes we are seeing."

Ms Corkhill said victims could feel fear and shame, which might deter them from coming forward.

"There are many people who drop out of the process because they don't feel supported," she said.

She said it was important to take the burden off victims and look at what could be done to address the attitudes that were leading to the attacks.

"Radicalisation of young men online, which is actually fuelling these anti-gay, anti-trans views, is where we need to put the energy," she said.

"To address those underlying causes, rather than only expecting victims to come forward after the fact, to me is the only way sensibly to try and address this long term.

'We're here, we're queer, and we're not going anywhere'

Canberra has long held a reputation as Australia's most progressive city.

There are same-sex pedestrian lights in the city centre, Chief Minister Andrew Barr is Australia's first and only openly gay leader, and the ACT returned the highest number of 'yes' responses in the 2017 same-sex marriage survey.

But there were fears the closure of Cube nightclub at the end of year was going to leave the city without a dedicated queer venue.

However, a new venue is now set to fill the void.

Described as an "LGBTQIA+ upscale dive bar", ChiChiz is set to open on Northbourne Avenue in December.

Co-owner Travis Moore said the venue would not just be a bar, but also a community space.

"There's a need for that, there's a longing for that," he said.

"Everyone is not accepted in certain places and it's nice just to have a place where everyone can be accepted.

Canberra's premier pride festival, SpringOUT, which takes place each November, has also been providing an important space LGBTQIA+ communities for more than 25 years.

"It's about people realising that we're here, we're queer, and we're not going anywhere," SpringOUT's president Lynne O'Brien said.