Vandal attack: Wynyard Station pride teddy bondage mural ‘kink’ vandal backlash

Two obscene “dickwing” posters plastered on inner-city Sydney walls have sparked a flood of online criticism, as police investigate vandalism attacks on another controversial WorldPride mural.

The graffitied bondage mural, painted over in two vandal attacks.

Two obscene “Dickwing” posters celebrating rainbow-coloured phallic objects shaped as wings plastered on inner-city Sydney buildings have sparked a flood of online criticism.

The graphic street art comes in the wake of a backlash over a “kink and BDSM” inspired teddy-head-bondage-man mural at Wynyard station, which was vandalised on Wednesday night.

The colourful drawings of multiple penises, attached to walls in King St, Newtown and City Rd, Darlington, have been tagged by Sydney graffiti street artist Scottie Marsh.

Mr Marsh shared images of the works on his social media feeds, tagging them as part of SydneyPride 2023.

One image included a drag queen posing in the middle of the image.

A drag queen poses in front of the mural. Picture: Scottie Marsh/Instagram

But the images hit an immediate backlash online, with many saying they were not appropriate for public viewing or for children.

“Sorry mate, that’s not what I’d want my young children exposed to,” one commentator said. “Do you not care about the children who will be exposed to this?”

Online commentators have complained that the murals are not suitable for public viewing, especially by children.

A video about the artwork has gone viral on Sydney local community Facebook groups, with a man filming the graphic poster and exclaiming “it’s a bunch of penises all sitting here for the kids to enjoy”.

“The whole thing is disgusting and nobody does a thing about it,” he says.

“How many kids come and get their photos taken with a selection of 50 penises!”.

Sydney City Council and Mr Marsh have been approached for comment.

The Sydney graffiti street artist Scottie Marsh has tagged the murals "dickwings".

TEDDY-HEAD BONDAGE MURAL

Meanwhile, police continue investigating the two overnight vandalism attacks on the controversial “kink and BDSM-inspired” WorldPride mural in Sydney’s CBD, which was splattered with paint and the message “leave the kids alone”.

The artwork near Wynard train station had sparked an uproar for not being appropriate for children with its depiction of a “furry” man with bondage straps lying on a couch with a beer and rainbow flag and a superimposed teddy bear head.

A NSW Police spokesman said officers attached to Sydney City Police Area Command were alerted after paint was thrown at a mural in York S about 9.30pm on Wednesday.

“Police attended the scene, seizing a number of items which have been taken for further examination.

“About four hours later, police were called back to the scene after more paint was splashed onto the artwork.

The controversial mural before the attack. Picture: Supplied

“Police have been told a man wearing a black hooded jumper, green pants and white sneakers was seen at the location about the time of the first incident.”

The artwork was commissioned by YCK Laneways, a consortium of local retailers, as part of WorldPride festival. Grassroots Collective Shout campaigner Caitlin Roper said children should not be exposed to fetish content.

“This mural will likely attract children’s attention – teddy bears are appealing to kids.”

Many more online commentators, including Tik Tok video makers, complained the mural was nothing to do with the Pride festival and was unsuitable for the general public.

A Tik Tok video has gone viral showing the vandalism, with commenters posting thumbs up and clapping emojis.

“This is extremely inappropriate (especially for children seeing this) to say the least. I don’t care how much time, effort or money went into making this mural,” I don’t see pride and acceptance here, it’s grooming.”

“Love it!!! I saw a pic earlier of a dad walking his daughter across the street and she’s holding a teddy bear. So happy they did the right thing!” another commented.

‘INAPPROPRIATE, CREEPY’

The mural’s appearance earlier this week saw it slammed as “inappropriate” and “creepy” in a public space, and saw it likened to the recent Balenciaga fashion house scandal linking adult sex themes to children.

“The widespread condemnation of Balenciaga for their BDSM-themed ads involving children demonstrates that many people strongly object to involving or exposing kids to this kind of content,” Ms Roper said.

“Kink and BDSM-themed imagery is not appropriate for the public space which includes children. “The global research is clear – sexualising children by exposing them to adult, sexualised or pornographic imagery harms their physical and mental health, beliefs, attitudes and sexuality in a range of ways.”

“There are other ways to promote diversity and inclusivity that don’t involve adults imposing their sexual fetishes on an audience that includes children.”

A North Sydney mother, who asked not to be named after the issue of the mural caused a blow-up on a Sydney mother’s Facebook group, said the image was “very jarring” when she encountered it last week.

“It’s clearly inappropriate, exposing children to adult things like that,” she said. “It’s right near the train station where there are plenty of schoolchildren.”

Online, the image attracted criticism when it was shared by the YCK Laneways social media under the headline “Happy Pride”, with some questioning the hairy figure as “furry” and “creepy”.

“Why is a teddy bear in bondage meant to represent Pride?!” one commented. “The gay community worked hard for years to distance themselves from this sort of representation. Small children will be walking past this.”

A BDSM teddy mural posted by YCKlaneways on display at Wynyard Station in Sydney gets an online backlash: Source: Instagram.

Another added: “Why would you think this is appropriate to display in public?! A fat, hairy, alcohol drinking, bondage wearing teddy bear man on display where people walk past to go to work, and in full view of children.”

The YCK Laneways consortium said the mural was in place to celebrate World Pride and would be removed on 5 March.

“YCK Laneways is an inclusive precinct which welcomes and celebrates a variety of communities and sub-cultures from across Sydney,” a spokesman said.

WorldPride was set up to promote and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and human rights across the world.

It will be Sydney’s biggest event since the 2000 Olympics and is being held in conjunction with the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras between February 17 and March 5.