Latest news with #ProtectMardiGras
Perth Now
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Issue tearing Sydney's Mardi Gras apart
Sydney's annual Mardi Gras parade is 'the most visible celebration of LGBT people around the world', but activists warn internal division has put its future at risk. An informal group of Mardi Gras members are campaigning to bring 'disillusioned' members back into the fold ahead of an annual general meeting expected in December. Also seeking new members, the Protect Mardi Gras campaign aims to 'protect' the inclusive character of the world-famous event and resist efforts to ban NSW police from participating. Organiser Peter Stahel said Mardi Gras members got 'within a handful of votes' in 2024 of banning police from attending the event following a string of controversies. 'It is the most visible celebration of LGBT people in the world, and it's incredible precious. I truly believe it saves lives – I really do,' Mr Stahel said of Mardi Gras. 'That's why we're doing this. We're not doing it because we want to protect the cops. We want to protect the cops' right to be in the parade. 'We want to protect that because of the power of Mardi Gras and the good that it does for people who are oftentimes really struggling to come to terms with who they are.' An informal group of Mardi Gras members are campaigning to bring members back amid internal divisions. NewsWire / Ben Symons Credit: NewsWire Mr Stahel believed the push to ban police, and the subsequent pushback against that, went beyond a 'difference of opinion'. He feared pushes to alienate certain groups from the parade would lead to other groups potentially being formally alienated as well in the future. 'They think we should ban cops. I disagree, but they're still welcome at Mardi Gras, right?' My Stahel said of groups opposed to police participation. 'So, what they're saying is 'anyone we disagree with shouldn't be invited'. 'Mardi Gras is built on this principle that in order to create change, you need to build alliances. 'You need to bring people in, you need to convince people, you need to change hearts, you need to change minds.' Mr Stahel said campaigners were not pushing back on 'understandable anxieties or concerns about the police'. 'What we are saying is, even if only one in 100 cops are a true ally, it makes no sense to reject that one person,' he said. 'Let's celebrate this person. Let's celebrate the fact that they are brave enough to stand up and be visible. Police breaking up pro-Palestine activists at the 2024 Sydney Mardi Gras. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia 'That's what Mardi Gras has been doing since 1998 when the cops first joined the parade.' Mr Stahel pushed back on claims Mardi Gras had 'lost its way' as a protest, its origin rooted in bringing in people who might not otherwise have been able to be involved. The campaign has received the backing of 78er Peter Murphy, one of the initial activists who marched in the original Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978. While he said activists faced 'real and raw' police brutality in the early days, 'progress does not come only from shouting people down'. 'It comes from showing up, educating, challenging, and building alliances.' he said. Mr Murphy pushed back against what he said was a movement to ban 'LGBTQIA+ police, military, certain political parties, and corporate sponsors'. 'Their goal isn't to broaden the movement – it's to use it to punish,' he said. 'Their strategy is to stack the AGM, take over the board, and totally change what Mardi Gras is and has been.' The parade has been a significant event in the city for decades. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia Attempts to ban police from Mardi Gras were only narrowly defeated at last year's AGM. Members voted 493 to 459 against banning police. The failed resolution was moved by the Mardi Gras board and based on community consultation that it said found 54 per cent of respondents opposed police participation. It came after the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies by NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon – who has not entered any pleas and whose matter is still before the courts – as well as the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes. One of the groups advocating for police to be excluded is Pride in Protest. In a video shortly after the December AGM, the group said it was not a matter of if police would be excluded from the march but when. The group has been contacted for comment. The Mardi Gras organisation declined to comment on the campaign.
News.com.au
03-08-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Campaign to protect Sydney Mardi Gras amid ‘internal divisions' over police participation
Sydney's annual Mardi Gras parade is 'the most visible celebration of LGBT people around the world', but activists warn internal division has put its future at risk. An informal group of Mardi Gras members are campaigning to bring 'disillusioned' members back into the fold ahead of an annual general meeting expected in December. Also seeking new members, the Protect Mardi Gras campaign aims to 'protect' the inclusive character of the world-famous event and resist efforts to ban NSW police from participating. Organiser Peter Stahel said Mardi Gras members got 'within a handful of votes' in 2024 of banning police from attending the event following a string of controversies. 'It is the most visible celebration of LGBT people in the world, and it's incredible precious. I truly believe it saves lives – I really do,' Mr Stahel said of Mardi Gras. 'That's why we're doing this. We're not doing it because we want to protect the cops. We want to protect the cops' right to be in the parade. 'We want to protect that because of the power of Mardi Gras and the good that it does for people who are oftentimes really struggling to come to terms with who they are.' Mr Stahel believed the push to ban police, and the subsequent pushback against that, went beyond a 'difference of opinion'. He feared pushes to alienate certain groups from the parade would lead to other groups potentially being formally alienated as well in the future. 'They think we should ban cops. I disagree, but they're still welcome at Mardi Gras, right?' My Stahel said of groups opposed to police participation. 'So, what they're saying is 'anyone we disagree with shouldn't be invited'. 'Mardi Gras is built on this principle that in order to create change, you need to build alliances. 'You need to bring people in, you need to convince people, you need to change hearts, you need to change minds.' Mr Stahel said campaigners were not pushing back on 'understandable anxieties or concerns about the police'. 'What we are saying is, even if only one in 100 cops are a true ally, it makes no sense to reject that one person,' he said. 'Let's celebrate this person. Let's celebrate the fact that they are brave enough to stand up and be visible. 'That's what Mardi Gras has been doing since 1998 when the cops first joined the parade.' Mr Stahel pushed back on claims Mardi Gras had 'lost its way' as a protest, its origin rooted in bringing in people who might not otherwise have been able to be involved. The campaign has received the backing of 78er Peter Murphy, one of the initial activists who marched in the original Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978. While he said activists faced 'real and raw' police brutality in the early days, 'progress does not come only from shouting people down'. 'It comes from showing up, educating, challenging, and building alliances.' he said. Mr Murphy pushed back against what he said was a movement to ban 'LGBTQIA+ police, military, certain political parties, and corporate sponsors'. 'Their goal isn't to broaden the movement – it's to use it to punish,' he said. 'Their strategy is to stack the AGM, take over the board, and totally change what Mardi Gras is and has been.' Attempts to ban police from Mardi Gras were only narrowly defeated at last year's AGM. Members voted 493 to 459 against banning police. The failed resolution was moved by the Mardi Gras board and based on community consultation that it said found 54 per cent of respondents opposed police participation. It came after the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies by NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon – who has not entered any pleas and whose matter is still before the courts – as well as the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes. One of the groups advocating for police to be excluded is Pride in Protest. In a video shortly after the December AGM, the group said it was not a matter of if police would be excluded from the march but when. The group has been contacted for comment.
Daily Mail
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Is this the end of an era for a 50-year-old tradition in Australia? Bitter feud erupts over a very controversial change
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is facing its biggest internal rift in years, as fierce infighting threatens to reshape the future of the world-famous event. A new campaign group, Protect Mardi Gras, is urging members to reject what it calls 'division and exclusion' ahead of a pivotal annual general meeting. At the heart of the dispute is whether LGBTQIA+ police officers should be permitted to march in uniform in the 2025 parade. Protect Mardi Gras claims a 'group of activists' is using the AGM to push an 'exclusionary agenda'. That group is Pride in Protest, a self-described 'grassroots political organisation focusing on queer liberation'. Veteran activist Peter Murphy, who was brutally bashed by police during the first Mardi Gras in 1978, called on members to defend the parade's inclusive spirit. Mr Murphy is a '78er,' a term used to describe those who took part in the original 1978 march, which was met with police violence and arrests. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Protect Mardi Gras (@protectmardigras) Mr Murphy reflected on the event's evolution, calling Mardi Gras a 'beacon of hope' for LGBTQIA+ communities in Sydney, Australia, and around the world. He highlighted the 1998 decision to allow LGBTQIA+ police officers to march as a milestone moment. 'When the LGBTQIA+ police joined our parade in 1998, it was a fabulous victory,' Mr Murphy said. 'But its beautiful, inclusive character is under sustained attack from within our community here in Sydney.' He urged members to join the Mardi Gras organisation, attend the AGM and vote, or hand over their proxy to a Protect Mardi Gras member. Protect Mardi Gras organiser Peter Stahel told Daily Mail Australia the campaign consists of 'ordinary volunteers who care deeply about the power of Mardi Gras'. 'Mardi Gras is made possible by the hard work of hundreds of volunteers and the participation of a very diverse group of people, businesses, and activists that don't necessarily agree with each other on every issue,' he said. 'Mardi Gras has many voices, but it's one parade. That's what makes it powerful.' Mr Stahel acknowledged the NSW Police's history of harm toward LGBTQIA+ communities, but urged a pragmatic, inclusive approach. 'I agree we must constantly acknowledge that many institutions, including the NSW Police, continue to cause harm to LGBTQIA+ people and many others,' he said. 'If only one in 100 police are allies, we start with them and build from there. We don't reject the one to spite the 99, that's just silly, unstrategic, and frankly, dangerous.' Protect Mardi Gras is encouraging people to join the organisation and vote to maintain the parade's inclusive tradition. Meanwhile, Pride in Protest has campaigned to ban police from marching in the event since 2018. Their most recent attempt to formally exclude officers from the 2025 parade was narrowly defeated. In 2024, NSW Police officers marched out of uniform in a compromise following the deaths of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird, who were allegedly murdered by Beau Lamarre-Condon, a serving police officer at the time. Earlier this month, Pride in Protest renewed its call to ban police from participating in Mardi Gras following the death of Collin Burling, a 45-year-old man who died in police custody on July 15. Mr Burling's partner, Taite Collins, captured distressing footage of the incident, in which Burling cried out: 'I've done nothing wrong. I can't breathe. I am dying. Help.' 'The police institution is an oppressive one laced with racism, queerphobia, and violence, and one that is not held accountable for its actions,' Pride in Protest said. 'We renew our demands that the disgraced NSW Police Force be removed from the Mardi Gras parade float and for Operation Mardi Gras to end, putting a stop to the dangerous and overwhelming police presence in Sydney's queer spaces and events.' The Mardi Gras annual general meeting will be held later this year.
