Celebrated Opera Singer Nails National Anthem, Gets Called 'Faggot' Anyway

One of the nation's premier opera performers was allegedly subjected to a homophobic slur following his rendition of the national anthem at Saturday night's FIBA Oceania basketball championships in Melbourne, it has been reported.

According to Fairfax, openly gay Opera Australia principal artist Kanen Breen had just completed his powerful performance - for which he dressed in an all-black suit complemented with rainbow tie - in front of the 15,000-strong crowd at Rod Laver Arena when, as the applause died down, a single voice allegedly yelled "Faggot!" in a taunt that Breen later told his close friend and fellow Opera Australia star Jacqueline Dark was as "clear as a gunshot".

Taking to Facebook with a heartfelt missive in the wake of the incident, Dark — with whom Breen is co-parent to a young son — expressed her sadness, disappointment and condemnation over the alleged slur, saying that those in the audience who sat by without intervening were as responsible for the ugliness as the crowd member who had voiced the slur.

"I am beyond stunned by this," Dark wrote in her post after explaining the incident. "Beyond hurt and beyond angry."

"[Breen] took [the attack] in his stride, texting me that it had happened and adding ‘My work here is done.’ 

"I found myself unable to accept it with such grace, and then found myself wondering why this was so. The sad conclusion I have reached is that he can accept it because it happens to him every day. Every. Day. Stop to consider that – imagine that every time you leave the house, you’re resigned to the fact that you’ll cop abuse from complete strangers. That you could be standing in a silence in front of 15 000 people – the most vulnerable a performer will ever be – and be shot down by a pathetic, cowardly word."

"Heckler, you are an embarrassment," she continued. "Everyone else in the crowd who didn’t comprehensively shout this bigot down, you are also an embarrassment. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. You did nothing. Through your inaction, you silently condoned this man’s behaviour. He has learned nothing and assumes that everyone agrees with him. Next time, be a better person.

"Next time, say something. Next time, tell this man to sit down and keep his pathetic homophobia to himself."

Dark goes on to effortlessly list Breen's lengthy history of achievements and overcoming adversity, decrying the heckler's determination to ignore the fact that "my friend has had an intense rehearsal schedule and has been ill, but still turned up and sang on the night so that the crowd and the team could hear their national song and stand in solidarity and be proud", because "all you saw was a rainbow tie", a phrase that makes a repeat appearance in poignantly demonstrating Dark's point:

"My friend is one of the finest singers in this country and absolutely blew that anthem out of the water," Dark wrote. "All you saw was a rainbow tie.

"My friend has been away from his family for months, missing his little boy desperately but Skyping him every day, sometimes just to watch him sleep. All you saw was a rainbow tie."

Opera Australia has not yet released an official statement regarding the incident, but has - echoing a movement started by personal friends and acquaintances of Breen - changed its official Facebook picture to an image of Breen's spectacular tie in a powerful show of support of its beleaguered star.

Although the slur itself is obscured by commentary, you can see footage of Breen's performance, and read Dark's full post in response to the alleged heckling, below.