Heritage NSW rejects application to register nude beach

A NSW gay beach’s application for state heritage status has been knocked back, as a community battle over the site causes a splash on the NSW North Coast.

Community members are vowing not to give up the fight to recognise Kings Beach, south of Byron Bay, for its cultural significance for the LGBTQ community, after their proposal was formally rejected.

Locals are campaigning to heritage list Kings Beach in northern NSW as an LGBTQ-significant site.Credit: Natalie Grono

The beach has been a clothing-optional meeting place for gay men since the 1980s. Community members had hoped a heritage listing would “recognise and celebrate” its sandy shores as part of the cultural and heritage significance of Australia’s queer community.

Their proposal comes amid a separate battle with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service after it erected signs and published online material stating that nudity on the beach is not allowed, sparking resistance from some beach users and claims of homophobia.

A Heritage NSW spokesman said the NSW Heritage Council, the independent statutory body responsible for reviewing nominations, determined the beach did “not meet the threshold” for a listing.

Kings Beach user Rohan Anderson, who lodged the heritage application, said he had not been given reasons for the rejection. Anderson met his husband, Jonathon Lee, at the beach.

Kings Beach ‘did not meet the threshold’ for heritage listing.Credit: Natalie Grono

“This is the best gay beach in the world and NSW Heritage should be proud of it. It’s hosted everything from AIDS vigils to funerals and the scattering of ashes and has huge significance for the community,” he said.

The heritage nomination described Kings Beach as a “rare and valuable cultural site for the LGBTQIA+ community in regional Australia, serving as a public space of safety, identity, and celebration over several decades”.

Campaign supporters questioned why the proposal was rejected amid a push to heritage list queer cultural sites, including the Erskineville Hotel and the Mardi Gras Parade route in Sydney.

Anderson said the beach needed to be recognised so the LGTBQ community could “have a seat at the table” in ongoing discussions about the beach’s management, which he said many had taken as an “attack” on their culture.

“For too long we have been treated as a problem to be managed rather than a community and culture to celebrate and protect,” he said.

At a May meeting, NPWS said it had received numerous complaints over an extended period relating to safety, and members of the public not feeling comfortable visiting Kings Beach because of “public sexual activity and inappropriate behaviours”.

A spokesman for NPWS in a statement said the department “recognises the long connection” between the LGBTQ community and the beach and “does not wish this to diminish”, but the signage reflected that the beach was not a clothing optional area under the Local Government Act.

“Staff are not directing people to dress,” he said, noting the agency would continue to work with LGBTQ health organisation ACON and other groups to understand how it could “support their use of Kings Beach while providing a safe and respectful experience for all”.

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