Police still welcome at Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

A stack of proposals to ban the police, plus Liberal politicians, and reject corporate sponsors from the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras were voted down by the organisation’s members at their Annual General Meeting.

An open letter from group Pride in Protest had called on the removal of police and corrective services from the parade as a show of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The proposal had the backing of some high profile members of the LGBTIQA+ communities including Nayuka Gorrie, Sally Rugg, Tom Ballard and singer Montaigne. Perth’s Bi+ Community organisation had also thrown their support behind the proposal alongside podcast focused company Lipp Media and student Pride organisations.

The proposal did not get enough votes to change the organisation’s policy. Proposals to block invitations being issued to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Prime Minister Scott Morrison and dump corporate sponsors including ANZ, Star Casino and QANTAS were also rejected.

Some of the proposals did receive a strong level of support showing that community views on the issues are changing. QNews has reported that 327 member votes were recorded for keeping the police and corrective services floats as opposed for 261 against.

OIP Staff

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