In 1994, over 50 Victorian police officers stormed Tasty Nightclub – arresting, detaining and strip-searching hundreds of party goers in front of each other.

Now known as the notorious Tasty Raid, the night’s violence and trauma forever changed the Naarm-Melbourne club scene and led to serious reforms in police powers including strip search laws.

Now on the 30th anniversary of the raid, Tasty’s co-founder DJ Gavin Campbell, venue manager Gerard O’Connor and long-time collaborator Jono Francisco join Sam Elkin to talk about the raid and their efforts to reframe the night’s event by putting on a big 30th anniversary event to celebrate the legacy of Tasty Nightclub and the queer clubbing scene in Naarm.

“I was stripped in front of my friend next to me… we held each other’s hands and went through it together. Like what Tasty was as a club and like what we’re trying to bring to the repositioning of the club. It’s an Iconic thing, Mardi Gras came from trauma, stonewall, tasty. As gays do – celebrate. In adversity make something great happen. What was terrible and traumatic for lots of people also leads to change and I think you have to celebrate that legacy of change.”

Photo credit: supplied.