Everyone has an opinion about events like the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, and often, these opinions are strong. Predictably, conservative Christians condemn the parade. Rev. Fred Nile, former leader of the Christian Democratic Party (CDP), was one of its most vocal critics, regularly denouncing the event. In March 2007, he particularly targeted me and our Freedom2b group, who were marching for the first time:

“I call upon Anthony Venn-Brown and these marchers to withdraw from this blasphemous, obscene parade and not bring the Name of Jesus Christ into disrepute.”

Like famous US fundamentalist preachers, Nile believed that God’s judgment would come upon Sydney because of the event. He encouraged Christians to pray for rain on parade night. In 1989, Rev Nile organised a march through Darlinghurst to “cleanse” Oxford Street.

For those who’ve been around a while, like me, you’ll remember Peter Madden, who was a CDP candidate. In 2011, he launched a campaign to shut down the Mardi Gras parade. His video call to Christians, “Heal our Land,” was outrageous.

In the video, Madden made statements such as:

“100,000’s of drunken youth will come to Sydney streets and be incited to all kind of lust, filth and moral depravity”
“Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is Sydney’s high day of sexual immorality”
“Hyde Park will be strewn with the bodies of drunken teenagers. 13, 14 and 15-year-old children, celebrating watching and participating in forms of sex they can’t understand.
“Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a parade of live porn”
“There will be beatings, drugs, alcohol, violence and debauchery”

Madden’s campaign sort of backfired on him.

Criticism is not limited to those outside the community, however. Even some LGBTQ people question the value of a public celebration.

I always remember the Simpsons episode where Homer takes his family to watch the Pride march. As marchers chant, “WE’RE HERE! WE’RE QUEER! GET USED TO IT!“ Lisa shouts back, “WE ARE USED TO IT! YOU’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS!”

Whenever someone voices strong opinions against the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, you can usually guarantee it means one or all of the following.

  1. They have never actually seen the parade in its entirety.

  2. They have never taken part in the parade and therefore don’t understand the dynamics of the experience.

  3. They have no knowledge of the history of the  community’s parades and the significance.

False assumptions are the result of ignorance and that ignorance has meant that pride celebrations, like Mardi Gras, have been labelled blasphemous, immoral, debauched and “promoting” homosexuality.

These assumptions stem from ignorance. For years, due to my own ignorance, I too was a critic.

Let’s address these points.

  1. They’ve never actually seen the parade in its entirety. Judgments are often based on media portrayals of the most flamboyant marchers. But Mardi Gras is about celebrating the diverse LGBTQ community, and many groups march, including religious organisations, cultural groups, political advocates, and service groups like the police force and military.
  2. They have never taken part in the parade and therefore don’t understand the dynamics of the experience. For most, marching in Mardi Gras is life-changing. As I used to tell the Freedom2b group:

    “The person you are at the end of this parade will be very different to the person you were at the beginning. It’s a very spiritual experience; like a deliverance, a cleansing. When you get into Oxford Street and you hear the roar of 10,000s of people cheering you on in celebration and affirmation, any last traces of shame or fear that might be lurking in your subconscious get washed away. You will never forget the first time you marched in the Mardi Gras parade. You will look back at it as a significant moment in your journey of letting go of fear, shame and condemnation and genuinely loving the person you were created to be. Pride takes over like never before.”

  3. They have no knowledge of the history of the  community’s parades and their significance. To understand Mardi Gras, we must understand its history. The event began on June 24, 1978, as a protest march in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. Although the organisers had got permission, it was revoked, and the march was broken up by police. Many of the participants were arrested; some brutally beaten. The Sydney Morning Herald published the names of those arrested, leading to many people being outed at work and to friends, and some losing their jobs. Homosexuality was still a crime in New South Wales until 1982.

Why do we need a special day and parade?

Critics say Pride flaunts sexuality, but we celebrate Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, weddings, and anniversaries—essentially celebrating heterosexuality. For just one day, we too should celebrate our lives, culture, and history.

When you hear the term “Gay Pride,” remember that it didn’t originate from a desire to celebrate being gay. It arose from our struggle to break free from oppression, to live without being criminalised, pathologised, or persecuted simply for being who we are.

For many, the journey to self-love and acceptance—particularly when it’s influenced by religion—can be agonising and take years. Tragically, some never make it.

If you’re wondering why there isn’t a straight pride, be thankful you’ve never needed one.

This Saturday, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade will feature over 11,000 marchers and more than 200 floats. Mums, dads, friends, allies, corporates, LGBTQ support and youth groups, first responders, police and service men and women, the disabled, athletes, politicians, kids being pushed in strollers by their gay mums and dads, transgender and non-binary folk, bears, drag queens and kings, people who’ve come out in the last 12 months, others that have been out for 50 or more years, some of the 78ers, doctors and nurses, teachers, queer Muslims and gay Christians. Several 100,000 will cheer them on along the parade route and the ABC’s live broadcast will reach nearly 2 million viewers.

We are all there for the same reason: to celebrate equality, diversity, inclusion and freedom and commit ourselves to the challenges that lie ahead in these unsettling times of homophobia, racism, transphobia,  and the rise of right wing politics.

People like Fred Nile and Peter Madden have disappeared. We’ve come a long way since 1978. Celebrate with us.

HAPPY MARDI GRAS