A DJ has spoken out against a terrifying trend of straight men pretending to be gay so they can “exploit intoxicated women and lure them into unsafe situations” after a group of Mardi Gras predators targeted her.
The music producer, who goes by the stage name Beks, said she had been dancing alone at the annual festival in Sydney on Feb. 25.
She revealed that she was ambushed by a group of men who pretended to be gay so they could get closer to women, with the experience leaving her traumatized.
“I was dancing on my own, and these four guys came to me like a pack,” she said.
And one of them said to me, “Oh, do you want to dance?” I said I only dance with gays.’
“The reason I had to say this is because he didn’t make me feel gay. He said: ‘I’m not gay, but my best friend is.’
Beks said it soon became clear that the man was lying to her.
“So I was looking at his best friend, and his best friend was staring at a woman expressing herself sexually in a very liberated way,” she said.
“The pack turned their attention to this one girl, all four focused on her, and one of the boys grabbed her and pulled her into the circle.
A DJ has lashed out at straight men pretending to be gay so they can hit on women after being mobbed by a group at Mardi Gras
“I started filming the boys. One of the guys realized I was filming them, so he started dancing with his arm up.’
Beks said she took quick action when she became terrified at the thought of what they would do to other women.
“I told the security guys. I followed these guys to make sure they wouldn’t prey on drunk women,” she said.
“They were looking for other women who were drunk, and I’m just sick and tired of people being exploited in these situations.
“Like, this is Mardi Gras. Leave everyone alone. It’s like a time of year when everyone is supposed to be safe.’
Beks told how the experience led to many sleepless nights.
“I’m having trouble sleeping because I worry about what these guys, what women have fallen prey to these guys at the end of the night,” she said.
“I have no tolerance for these grubs, these cockroaches that exploit people, whoever you are,” she explained.
The music producer, who goes by the stage name Beks, said she had been dancing alone at the annual festival in Sydney on Feb. 25 (stock image)
“I happened to be a strange woman who was in that room, and I think it’s absolutely disgraceful for people to pretend to be gay to exploit women.
Social media users shared their distaste for the group of men, saying they had experienced similar experiences, highlighting a worrying trend.
“Omg, nothing has changed since the 1990s… Still exactly the same, this used to happen back then…so disappointing.”
Another wrote, “It literally happened to me a few months ago in a gay nightclub.”
Beks told Daily Mail Australia that she was dancing alone against a boulevard while waiting for her friend to finish her music set.
She said the men approached her and their attitude immediately raised red flags.
“The youngest was about 17 years old and the oldest was about 30,” she said.
Beks said she told the security guard, but said her concerns were brushed aside when he told her, “These things happen.”
The comment prompted her to take matters into her own hands.
“I watched them for 45 minutes, followed by the crowd, and eventually they sort of went away,” she said.
Beks said the incident was disheartening and the online reaction illustrated how common it was for women to be exposed to predatory behavior.
She said she wanted to help people by sharing her story and said more work needed to be done to address the problem.