Gay marriage dominated Sydney’s annual Mardi Gras Parade as brides and grooms danced up Oxford Street while drag queens crowned gigantic wedding cake floats.
Despite the wet conditions, thousands of spectators took to the streets on Saturday for the 33rd Mardi Gras Parade.
‘Say Something’ was this year’s theme and same-sex marriage advocates spoke volumes; 15 of the 135 floats addressed the highly contentious issue.
The Parade kicked off about 7.45pm, led by American comedienne Lily Tomlin (pictured), UK gay rights advocate Peter Tatchell as well as Hannah Williams and Savannah Supski, the young lesbian couple banned from going to William’s school formal together last year.
Australian Marriage Equality spokesperson Alex Greenwich said Mardi Gras would send Prime Minister Julia Gillard a clear challenge.
‘…will you be the Prime Minister that delivers equality to loving gay and lesbian couples, or will you follow in Howard’s and Rudd’s footsteps and perpetuate discrimination against us in the Marriage Act?’ Greenwich asked.
‘Julia Gillard cannot ignore that clear majority of Australians that support equality for all loving couples, and tonight will show we are only going to get louder.’
A New Mardi Gras (NMG) spokesperson said they were delighted with the Parade feedback.
‘We were delighted with the feedback we have had from the Parade. The investment in creativity resulted in an event that was colourful, meaningful and popular.’
While reports suggest about 1000 police officers attended the event, NMG said there were under 20 arrests for incidents along the Parade route which was ‘very low’ for the event.
The first Mardi Gras Parade started in 1978, commemorating the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York.
Benn Dorrington
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