Mardi Gras

It all began with a few hundred people marching down Oxford Street in 1978. Little did those original marchers know that from a small street protest would grow one of the world’s largest gay and lesbian festivals. Thirty years later, as 10,000 participants, 150 floats and more than 300,000 spectators descended on Oxford Street, Mardi Gras paraded into A Brave New World. (more…)

1) The 78ers – After 30 years, they are still leading the march.

2) Craig Gee and Shane Brennen – After a homophobic assault last December, they returned to Oxford Street for the first time since.

3) 100 Revs Marching to Apologise – In a Mardi Gras first, reverends from a variety of denominations around Australia marched as an apology for the treatment of GLBT people by their religions. (more…)

‘This whole Mardi Gras thing is so exciting – you have Kathy Griffin here… Cyndi Lauper… Olivia Newton-John. This is like the fag hag summit. We are discussing all the important issues pertaining to fags and fag hags worldwide. I kept trying all week to invite Kylie to come because that would just make the fag hag circle complete – the fag hag Fantastic Four.’ –Margaret Cho (more…)

The official media launch for Mardi Gras on the morning of Saturday March 3rd was dominated by the following heartfelt and passionate speech by honorary Chief of Parade, actor and author Rupert Everett.

“Good morning everybody. First of all let me say what a privilege it is for me to be here today. I’m totally psyched and thrilled to be leading the Mardi Gras this evening. I’m really kind of in love with Sydney, and this morning when I got up at 6 am on Bondi Beach, and walked down to have a swim in that amazing salt water pool, a huge crimson sun appeared over the sea into a cloudless sky and I said “Yes! God is on our side. Not on the side of that wilful and malicious priest with his bunch of so-called “prayer group’ hacks”. (more…)

This year objects of love for me means my family, this year my parents have flown out for Mardi Gras. I wanted them to see exactly what I have been doing with my life for the past 3 years so I am really glad to have them on the parade

The start area [where we are now] is just the biggest buzz - we have 8000 parade entrants all sort of all chomping at the bit to get going, you can hear the sound in the background of the crowds are going off… there is no feeling like Mardi Gras!

Objects of love to me, being the most bitter, cynical and twisted person on that particular view point, is loving yourself first. Coming along to Mardi Gras for me is learning how to love yourself and seeing the diversity and the fantastic amount of people around that show and reflect every different part of love - it’s like looking into a prism and seeing thousands of ways of loving and accepting yourself, then your partner, then your community and then your world. I think that MG is fantastic for that reason - it’s why I come along as a bitter and cynical single person every year and I love it. Because if you can’t celebrate who you are, how can you celebrate your love in life your community, your family and then eventually the world?

Mardi Gras means a night of celebration especially through all of the torment that we have been through to get to a place of peace and to remember people that we have lost and for the hope that there will be change in the future. Thank you Anthony Venn Brown

We have over a hundred young people from across NSW & Tasmania & Perth over there. Object of love means communities that care about young people and they care about people who don’t always fit right in the middle of them.

Our statement in this parade is about full equality and no excuses. So spreading the message about people wanting to have access to marriage in the same way as straight people, if that’s how they want to express their love that’s how they should be able to do it. I mean Mardi Gras is also about there being so many of us here on the streets and the atmosphere is always fantastic. You always get a real buzz. A lot of love buzzes around at Mardi Gras!