Photography by Rebecca Lawrence

For one last time, I pulled a grimly tattered Post-it out of my pocket as I met up with my friend and photographer in the Media Pit of the 2016 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. All day I had been tinkering with it. On the yellow slip was my wish list for images she might get for me to go with this article. In amongst Love, Pride, Acceptance and this year’s theme: Momentum was Politics … with a question mark. Silly me. It became pretty obvious pretty quickly that no question mark needed. Behind us Bill Shorten, leader of the Opposition had just finished and his Deputy Tanya Plibersek, was talking to camera when the “No Pride in Detention” float began a hijack. “We’re here, we’re queer, refugees are welcome here.”

It was to be a political parade. Glamourous , spirited, vibrant, community-based but undeniably with an agenda. 178 floats and entries, half a million watchers. In a Parade first, Prime Minister, Malcom Turnbull was greeting the crowds and viewed the event and Bill (the first leader of a major political party to march) and Tanya, Lord Mayor Clover Moore and Alex Greenwich (Independent), Anthony Albanese (Labor), Trent Zimmerman and Shane Mallard (Liberal) were all participants.

LGBTQI groups small and large travelled the 1.7km route down Oxford Street and the 78ers were once again front and centre. These Gays and Lesbians participated in the first march on June 24, 1978 where they called for rights, some of which have been achieved and some of which are still being fought for. During this Mardi Gras season they have been apologised to by the NSW Parliament and by the Sydney Morning Herald which had printed their names, professions and addresses. And on Friday at the Media Briefing the NSW Police, who were brutal in their treatment of the 500 protestors, added their apology.

Some of the 78ers have said that it was all over and they were ready to head off home to bed when the authorities began the violence and that riot is what planted the seeds of this, the second largest contributor to NSW’s tourist economy. This 38th parade was 1.4km long and took 3 hours to view and no one does fabulousness like Mardi Gras. No-mucking-around mirror balls; blasting music; wonderful live bands; extraordinary lights and sound everywhere. Words are such a poor tool to describe what Mardi Gras is but one word impossible to ignore is ….

Glitter. Tonnes of it: glitter cannons from the trucks; spray on glitter; body glitter; glitter eyelashes and scrotum pouches. There is no part of the human body that cannot be enhanced by bejewelling. I bet there was an extra room cleaning fee for anyone staying in a hotel. The stuff was everywhere.

As were the beautiful bodies, large and small, abled and differently abled, the elaborately costumed and the stripped way down. In my heavy SES uniform and boots I longed for the freedom of the Sydney Stingers water polo players who were just in their togs. One woman, tits to the wind in vibrant blue, told me her purpose was to be naked in public and so she nearly was.

Sport was everywhere too. The Sydney Convicts Rugby players had their big ball out and proud. Team Sydney had the perfect opportunity to advertise their “Change the Game-Combating Homophobia and Trans Phobia in Sport” Conference in May. The dragon boaters rowed down Oxford street, the Sydney Rollers rolled, the lifesavers swam and the Australian Olympic Committee’s “Rio 2016” float had the astonishingly costumed and choreographed RHYTHM BRAZIL dwarfed by a bedazzled Rio Jesus statue on the back of their truck.

Out on a stroll, 2km means nothing to bushwalkers, the Bush Lemons, who I had previously spoken to at Fair Day, were all about visibility and pride and adding their voice. Team Leader Jocelyn told me that in the marshalling area where LGBTQI people spend hours hanging together, there is love and care and joy “And that’s the way the world should be!”. A pretty good quote from someone who had just led a group of 30 in a dance routine with neon draped walking poles. One of the other Lemons said that she loved the way the crowd were happy to see us: “They wait in the heat for us to pass by and they cheer for us for hours”.

For each of the 12,500 participants there seemed to be a different reason to be there. In my group of 120 and around us in other Emergency, Volunteer, Defence and Civil Service groups, a mix LGBTQI and straight volunteers paraded to support inclusion and to illustrate that we serve the whole community. During my wanderings before the parade, I asked an elder citizen on the Unity Wollongong float why he was there, he merely pointed to a young man practising some tricky dance moves and said “To support my son”. Simple. It comes down to relationships and on this night of nights what we share.

And everywhere you look there is sharing. A passionate young woman wearing not a great deal apart from red body paint and a birdcage on her head “Out of the closet and out of the cages” has an absorbing discussion with one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Sister Salome of the Ninth Mystic Rhinestone. Religion is all over too. Jewish, Catholic Acceptance: the latter are Equally Blessed according to their T Shirts. Even the Queer Atheists are represented. Matthew, a drummer in the Uniting Network entry tells me that their drums all have names to support Gay and Lesbian acceptance. Mary Clarence is there and his is …Dorothy Day.

P Flag, parents and friends of Lesbians and Gays had “keeping families together” as their float’s message. It had a huge impact on the crowd. Gay Dads, Adoptive and Foster Parents, Rainbow Families and Rainbow Babies and Kids marched with their families. “My child is trans and fabulous.” Trans rights are high on the political agenda along with support for those in refugee detention. But the driving force for Gay and Lesbians is Marriage Equality.

The large Marriage Equality contingent chanted “We Will Win” all the way and Bill Shorten again confirmed the 100 days he has promised. Adding that “We really don’t need to wait for an election”. My tattered Post-it list fluttered away into the fabulous night and hopefully by next Mardi Gras Marriage Equality is an issue which has flown away as well. At least there is a whole year in which stockpile glitter to throw at the next important phase in LGBTQI rights. Or to learn how to walk all that way in high heels. Or how to drum up a storm using only yellow plastic sharps tubs. Or to get sporty or religious or political or ….. just plain faaaabulous!!