SBS have announced today that this year will see the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras broadcast live and around the globe.
The annual celebration has appeared on the public broadcaster in previous years, but 2020 will feature a live broadcast for Australian audiences, while SBS On Demand will not block the stream for international audiences.
This year’s parade broadcast will be hosted by Whadjuk Noongar broadcaster and Studio 10 star Narelda Jacobs, lesbian comedian Zoe Coombs-Marr, drag superstar and non-binary musician Courtney Act and of course, our own Joel Creasey.
“Mardi Gras is so much more than an incredible party,” Jacobs said.
“It brings people from all walks of life together to celebrate diversity and sends a message to the world that being LGBTIQ+ isn’t just normal – it’s fabulous! My first Mardi Gras experience was in 1998 as a 21 year old, who’d just come out. I was brought up in a fundamentalist Christian family where it was an accepted belief that being homosexual was a sin and gays were damned to hell.”
“The pilgrimage to Sydney all those years ago allowed me to stand proud as a lesbian. I felt a strong sense of belonging and identity. The same arms that welcomed me over two decades ago, have welcomed countless others. This Mardi Gras,“What Matters”, is at the core of the party, and what matters most is each other. In 2020 I’m looking forward to giving all my love to this beautiful and generous community. Let’s celebrate together!”
The broadcast will feature commentary from the quartet on the parade, as well as interviews with this year’s offical after party superstars; Sam Smith, Dua Lipa and Kesha.
NITV will also simulcast the parade this year, and host a special celebration of LGBTIQ+ indigenous folks with a selection of programming including Killing Patient Zero and Black Divaz. SBS World Movies will showcase the best of LGBTIQ+ cinema, and SBS Radio will explore ‘What Matters’ to people living on the intersection of LGBTIQ+ and CALD communities.
The 2020 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2020 airs live and exclusively on SBS on Saturday 29 February.
