Hugh Sheridan calls for DV funding for LGBTQI community in wake of double murder

Hugh Sheridan is pushing for more domestic violence funding for the LGBTQI community, following the shocking killing of friend Luke Davies and his boyfriend Jesse Baird.

Packed to the Rafters actor Hugh Sheridan has pleaded for more domestic violence funding for the LGBTQI community, following the shocking killing of friend Luke Davies and his boyfriend Jesse Baird, and revealing for the first time his own terrifying abuse at the hands of a knife-wielding former partner.

The 38-year-old Los Angeles-based actor flew home with plans to catch up with Davies and said he was “physically sick” and “absolutely heartbroken” when he learned of the brutal double murders and arrest of Baird’s NSW Police officer ex, Beau Lamarre-Condon.

Lamarre-Condon is accused of stalking and threatening the Channel 10 personality, after he ended their brief relationship and moved on with Davies, a Qantas flight attendant.

Homicide detectives have alleged Baird was the target of the killings, while Davies was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” visiting Baird’s Paddington home.

Sheridan, who himself survived an abusive same-sex relationship, will march at Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade in memory of his slain friend and as an ambassador for the Domestic Violence Awareness Foundation (DVAF), the organisation he credits with helping him escape a toxic and violent former partner who threatened him with a knife.

Australian actor Hugh Sheridan (right) with his friend Luke Davies, who was allegedly murdered by his boyfriend’s ex.

Sheridan has called for more domestic violence funding for the LGBTQI community. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Sheridan said some of his closest friends did not believe him when he spoke up about his own abusive experience.

“As an actor, I’ve been in staged fights before but when you’re confronted with violence in your home, it’s really, really scary. They (abusers) wait until you’re in and you’re sharing your pain, then,” he said, hesitating, “how do you get out?

“I was in a short-term relationship, but it was a committed bond. A strong, committed bond.

“I was in a position where I couldn’t really escape easily.

“I certainly knew that something was very wrong all of a sudden, and I didn’t feel safe.

“I haven’t ever wanted to talk about it because I think there’s still a huge stigma around it.”

Sheridan with the former police officer who founded DVAF, Ben Bjarnesen. Picture: Tara Croser.

When he announced his ambassador role with DVAF, Sheridan said: “I was blown away by how many people actually direct-messaged me with their own stories, and I wasn’t fully aware of how much people do actually want to talk about it, even if I don’t know how.

“I felt the need to speak up this week, even though, you know, it feels uncomfortable to talk about; but Luke’s death can’t be in vain and there is a much bigger issue here.”

While domestic violence research and services are focused largely on heterosexual couples, there is only one support program, ‘Say It Out Loud’ through ACON in NSW, that is for gay and lesbian victims.

Sheridan says he also suffered at the hands of a former partner. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

It was the complete lack of services that prompted Ben Bjarnesen to launch the DVAF in 2020, after the former Queensland police officer struggled to break free of an abusive same-sex relationship he had endured in silence for two years.

Already fighting the macho stereotypes of policing, Bjarnesen used a small grant from the Queensland government to create the resources he could not find when he needed them back in 2016.

“When Covid happened, they said: ‘You can either give the money back or go online’. So, I took it online and it blew up,” Bjarnesen said.

He said queer victims often had their DV matters trivialised as gay hysteria; while also battling dangerous myths that “men can defend themselves” in gay relationships and “women are not perpetrators”.

He now campaigns for greater state and federal government funding and better training for first responders.

NSW Police, with Commissioner Karen Webb second from left, marching in last year’s Sydney Mardi Gras parade. The police have been uninvited from this year’s march.

While the NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has drawn criticism over her handling of the double murder case, Sheridan came out in support of the force at Mardi Gras.

“Everyone’s still shaken by what happened and I feel an immense responsibility to the boys (Luke and Jessie), and those suffering through it (domestic violence),” Sheridan said.

“But we have to talk about it and … take this as an opportunity to show the world how well we’re going to handle this.”

Information: www.dvafoundation.org/

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