AM - Friday, 4 July , 2008 08:22:00 Reporter: Michael Edwards TONY EASTLEY: Gay groups say police have begun questioning them about their planned activities during World Youth Day. New regulations give police extra powers during the event in Sydney.



Civil libertarians say the new rules are over-the-top and inflammatory and gay groups planning events to coincide with World Youth Day say they’re already being unnecessarily scrutinised by police.



Michael Edwards has this story.



MICHAEL EDWARDS: Luke Roberts is a lapsed Catholic as well as a homosexual activist and performer who goes by the stage name, Pope Alice.



Pope Alice is best described as a celestial being whose greatest claim is that she is the "Queen of Heaven" and along with Pope Benedict, Pope Alice will also be in Sydney during World Youth Day.



LUKE ROBERTS: I want to see Pope Alice express herself as a focal point for anybody, gays, lesbians, transgender, intergender, queers, bisexuals, anybody, heterosexuals - anyone who have an open mind and want to say we have had enough of these medieval religions that keep the world backward.



MICHAEL EDWARDS: Pope Alice will host a so-called “kiss-in” to be held along Oxford Street in Darlinghurst.



LUKE ROBERTS: You’re having your thing. We’re having ours.



MICHAEL EDWARDS: Luke Roberts has made no secret of the proposed “kiss in” and yesterday it appeared the New South Wales Police also got wind of it.



He received a call in Brisbane from a policeman who identified himself as being from the World Youth Day Investigation Squad. He was then asked him a series of questions.



LUKE ROBERTS: He wanted to know how long I’d be there, how many people would actually be with me, would there be music, what was the nature of the event.



MICHAEL EDWARDS: Mr Roberts says that despite the fact the policeman was respectful and polite, he still felt intimidated.



LUKE ROBERTS: You do feel that you’re not sure then, you know, whether your phones are going to be tapped, you know what I mean. You feel, of course, a little vulnerable.



MICHAEL EDWARDS: This week it was revealed New South Wales Police have been given the power to arrest anyone who in their view causes annoyance or inconvenience to pilgrims during World Youth Day.



Offenders risk fines of up to $5,500. Protest groups worry about the definition of “annoying”.



They fear it could lead to the confiscation of items such as placards and t-shirts bearing anti-World Youth Day slogans.



Paul Harris is the co-convenor of Acceptance, a group for gay and lesbian Catholics which is planning to run a forum on homosexuality to coincide with the event. He also received a call from the New South Wales Police.



PAUL HARRIS: Initially, I thought it was the World Youth Day people. I thought it was, you know, some kind of World Youth Day CSI. Some secret police of the Catholic Church were trying to investigate what this gay group is on about. I didn't know who it was really.



TONY EASTLEY: Paul Harris, the co-convenor of the gay Catholic group, Acceptance, ending Michael Edwards' report.



A spokesman for New South Wales Police has told AM, the World Youth Day Investigation Squad is not about curtailing the rights of protesters - instead, its role is to ensure everyone’s safety.