Sydney mural of George Michael vandalised with homophobic slurs

The mural was commissioned after the LGBTQ+ icon's death last year, and hasn't been vandalised in the 10 months since. But last week, it was defaced with homophobic slurs, and pelted with eggs.

The 'Saint George' mural in Sydney. Source: Stereogamous / Facebook

Last year, a mural of Wham! legend and LGBTQ+ icon George Michael was painted in Sydney, and was so widely celebrated that it even featured on a float at the 2017 Mardi Gras. 

The artwork, painted by Australian artist Scott Marsh (also responsible for the mural of Tony Abbott marrying himself) was a celebration of the life of the influential singer, after he tragically passed away at the end of last year.

The piece, titled 'Saint George', features Michael as a religious saint, complete with halo and robes, holding a lit joint and a bottle of amyl nitrate.

However, it has now been reported that during the same-sex marriage postal survey, the mural has been defaced - someone reportedly vandalised the artwork with a variety of homophobic slurs, as well as pelting it with eggs. 

Jonny Seymour - one half of the DJ duo Stereogamous, along with Paul Mac - was one of people responsible for commissioning the mural, and spoke out about the incident on Twitter. He tells SBS that he believes the vandals were people voting 'No' in the survey. 

He said on Twitter that he refused to publish photos of the homophobic slurs that were written, because the vandals should "not [get] any mileage from this".

Seymour tells SBS that the postal survey campaign and consequential incidents like this are "exhausting", but a "defining moment" was when he came home to find a group of strangers cleaning the offending markings off of the wall. 

"The defining moment was [attending the site of the mural] to find people scrubbing the wall clean. [It was] really beautiful to find lovely heterosexuals that I haven’t met erasing hatefulness."

Elaborating on Twitter, he said: "Now they are our friends. Yep, I'm crying (happy tears)."

Seymour tells SBS that the mural was commissioned shortly after Michael passed away, in December last year. "In 10 months, there's been no vandalism," he explains.

The DJ also says that he's sent the images of the incident to be considered as contravening the safeguard laws against vilification and discrimination during the postal survey. The special laws could see offenders be fined up to $12,000 by the Federal Court.

But for anyone who'd like to visit and pay their respects, the mural has now been cleaned up and returned to its former glory - a uniquely queer tribute to one of the greatest LGBTQ+ icons of all time.

NOTE: While photos cannot be published in this story at the request of Seymour, they have been sighted by SBS for verification of the incident.