How a Sydney gym owner became a Mardi Gras hero

Every year around February and March, as the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras gets underway, rainbows can be found decorating streets and shopfronts all over Sydney. At Darlinghurst’s City Gym, however, the pride flag flies all year round. These rainbow colours, displayed prominently above rows of dumbbells opposite the gym’s front doors, are not just a gesture of solidarity and support for its LGBTQIA+ members – they’re also a vital part of this business’s four-decade story and a small yet meaningful way to honour the legacy of its founder, Billy Moore.

Today, the fitness industry in Australia is incredibly diverse, but in 1978, when Moore first opened the doors of the Crown Street Fitness Centre (as City Gym was originally known) the typical Sydney gym was far from an inclusive environment. “The fitness community and the bodybuilding community back then were not very welcoming to people from the gay community. There were probably gay athletes back then, of course, but they couldn’t be out or open about their sexuality,” says Billy Kokkinis, City Gym’s current owner and Moore’s protegé. 

This might have remained the status quo of Sydney’s gym scene, if not for a chance coincidence. As Moore prepared to open his fledgling business, a small group of LGBTQIA+ demonstrators were also preparing. On the evening of June 24, 1978, they gathered in Darlinghurst, not far from the City Gym premises, to peacefully protest against arcane discrimination laws and for their right to live openly and with dignity. The group was violently attacked by police and arrested, enduring even more shocking brutality while in custody at Darlinghurst police station. 

Billy was a huge advocate for the gay community... He wanted the gym to be a safe haven for everyone.

Hearing about the abuse and injustice unfolding in his neighbourhood, Moore pledged to make his gym a safe space for the LGBTQIA people of Darlinghurst.

It wasn’t long before news of Sydney’s ‘gay gym’ spread across the city. Moore’s unflinching support for the gay community, despite it being a taboo within the fitness industry at the time, would forge a decades-long bond with the LGBTQIA+ people of Sydney. “Billy was a huge advocate for the gay community, not just for gay people being allowed to be themselves, but also for their right to live safely and without fear. He wanted the gym to be a safe haven for everyone,” Kokkinis says. “Those principles of equality, support, and respect – those are all things that have remained a big part of the gym’s spirit ever since.”

In the months following the dreadful events of June 24, 1978, more LGBTQIA+ demonstrations took place around Sydney, and public opposition to the police’s heavy-handed treatment of these peaceful protests began to mount. In 1979, the Summary Offences Act that had permitted the often violent suppression of protests was repealed; a civil rights milestone that was celebrated by more than 3,000 people marching in Sydney’s very first Mardi Gras parade that same year. 

Within a decade, the annual event had become one of Sydney’s most important cultural festivals, with hundreds of thousands of people attending, including huge numbers from interstate and overseas. Having been so closely connected to the origins of Mardi Gras, City Gym has been a stalwart presence in almost all of the 42 parades to date.

Kokkinis was just 15 years old when he attended his first, while on a work-experience placement at City Gym in 1986. “It was amazing growing up in the gay community back then – it was a great time. The people were absolutely wonderful – they welcomed me and looked after me like there was no tomorrow,” he recalls. “There was just such a good vibe in the place [City Gym]. Everybody was welcome, and that’s the comfort that Billy created on the floor.”

Over the ensuing decades, Kokkinis – otherwise known as ‘Billy Junior’ – has been part of City Gym’s many highs, including its popular ascent in the ‘80s and ‘90s as it became the go-to gym for visiting A-listers, including the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jane Fonda, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Hugh Jackman and Madonna. “I got to meet people I never dreamt I’d ever meet,” he says. “I remember when Madonna came and, I was like, ‘Am I dreaming?’ But there she was, just working out next to our regular members. But you know, that was the norm. We’d have gangsters from Kings Cross training next to an LGBTQ member and giving them a spot, you know. Where else would you see that? It was an all-inclusive place, with a zero-tolerance to idiots or heavies or anyone who thought they could bully anyone.”

But there have also been some crushing lows in recent years. Moore retired in the early 2000s, passing the reins of the gym to new company director Thoath Sik. The gym operated stably for several more years, but when Moore passed away in 2014 followed by Sik a year later, the gym entered a period of decline until it reached the brink of closure in 2017. With Moore’s great legacy to both the fitness industry and the LGBTQIA+ community at stake, Kokkinis and business partner Andy Mamasioulas stepped in to not only save the business, but also to begin building a legacy of their own. 

In 2020, as the national shutdown forced the gym to temporarily close, Kokkinis oversaw a $1.5 million, 7-month refurb of the premises, including major upgrades to changing facilities, a top-to-bottom makeover of its fitness studios and the introduction of a boxing gym, a rehab room and a restaurant, the City Gym Eatery. But one aspect of the business that has remained untouched is the inclusive, supportive ethos central to City Gym’s reputation.

When Madonna came and, I was like, ‘Am I dreaming?’ But there she was, just working out next to our regular members.

Those compassionate principles have proven to be even more necessary over the past turbulent year. As people across the country were forced to isolate during lockdown, many suffered the effects of mental ill-health. City Gym lost three of its members to suicide. “Health and fitness is so central to wellbeing, and without access to a gym, many people struggled. Losing some of our own was really devastating,” Kokkinis shares.

But in typical City Gym fashion, Kokkinis and his team have stepped up to address this serious issue. The gym used its Mardi Gras celebrations to raise money for mental health charity Beyond Blue, and there are similar collaborations in the works for the future. "Losing our members like that really inspired us to kick things up a notch," Kokkinis says. “Caring about your community and your people – that’s the most important thing Billy taught me.”

For help and advice on managing depression, head to the Beyond Blue website.