This April edition of the First Mardi Gras Inc. Newsletter, covers events in late February and March 2023 including:
- Reviews – CAMP premiers at Sydney WorldPride
- Helen Gollan on Newcastle Pride Parade and Pink Salt
- Robyn Kennedy on Live and Proud: Sydney WorldPride Opening Concert
- Ken Davis on WorldPride Human Rights Conference
- Karl Zlotkowski on Pride History Group Conference
- Karl Zlotkowski on World Pride 2023 – Over the Bridge
- Richard Thode on CARR Snap Action
- Helen Gollan on Chillout Festival Parade Daylesford
- Photos from Sunrise Pink Triangle Photo Event
- How to buy Badges and Books
- Calendar of Events.
The May edition of the newsletter will cover events in April as well as planned events in late June to mark the 45th Anniversary of the first Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
The next First Mardi Gras Inc. General Meeting is at 4pm, Saturday 22 April 2023 by Zoom. The next 78ers Lunch is on at 12pm, Sunday 7 May 2023, Terminus Hotel, Pyrmont, downstairs room, RSVP: info@78ers.org.au.
Diane Minnis
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| The new play, CAMP, based on the book by 78ers Robyn Kennedy and Robyn Plaister was among the major successes of Sydney WorldPride. The play was performed to full houses across its two week season at the Seymour Centre. With funding from Create NSW, Robyn Kennedy commissioned playwright Elias Jamieson Brown to write the play. Robyn Kennedy acted as script consultant and Associate Producer. Research for the play by Elias included interviews with several participants in the book, CAMP: Australia's Pioneer Homosexual Rights Activists, by Kennedy and Plaister. |
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On Saturday 18 February 78ers were warmly welcomed to the first Pride Parade held in Newcastle, although Newcastle Pride has been running for many years. The Parade was held on the walk along the foreshore, which gave plenty of visibility and will support their plans to have floats and be on the road next year.
As the Pride Parade was held to maximise those attending Pink Salt Dinner, it was important that 78ers were present. The dinner was amazing with wonderful Aboriginal inspired food. Sadly, torrential rain stopped the dinner and dessert was served under the awning, and that was an end to a beautiful event.
Helen Gollan, Butch now and forever
78er and First Mardi Gras Inc. member
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“Our community has faced monumental challenges – intolerance, hostility, stigma. In many places, these challenges remain, and hard-fought gains are threatened.
Working for change requires fearless determination and resilience and that is what we share as a global community. We are unstoppable because our task is not simply a cause – it is our very existence, our right to live freely and openly.
And while tonight we celebrate, we never forget those prevented from doing so. We gather here for them.
Because no matter the barriers we face as a community, we never turn back, we never give up, we always rise.”
My spoken words during the performance of “Rise” by Sheldon Riley and the Out and Loud Gay and Lesbian Choir at the Opening Concert, Sydney WorldPride on Friday 24 February 2023.
Link to spoken words during the performance of “Rise”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3J4x6FwmCM. Other segments if the concert available from that page.
Robyn Kennedy
78er and First Mardi Gras Inc. Committee Member
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The World Pride Human Rights Conference in Sydney 1-3 March was organised by Equality Australia. It was curated to be a large and inspiring show, focussing on the personal experiences of around 60 local and international presenters. The conference was planned to be more performative than participatory. There was good representation from parts of Europe and North America, and from Pacific Island nations, and prioritisation of First Nations peoples.
The people who worked to put on such a large conference need to be commended; nevertheless, there were political and logistical shortcomings. 78ers contributed as volunteers, participants and presenters.
The conference attracted controversy early on, due to its emphasis on profiling corporate sponsors, big business participation and the initially high cost ($1,700) for registration. The organisers refused workshop proposals from First Mardi Gras Inc., Positive Life and Union Pride and many other community organisations. This is despite that these workshops were to focus in part on internationalism, and though the original pitch for World Pride noted 2023 as the 50th anniversary of national Gay Pride Week and the Builders’ Labourers’ industrial action to defend a homosexual student in 1973, and the 45th anniversary of the first Mardi Gras in 1978. As a consolation, there was late offering of small “roundtables” about other topics, and brief inclusion of some speakers. The lessons of the history of queer struggles in Australia and their relationships with the international movement were de-prioritised.
Quite properly the conference started with a welcome to Gadigal land, and presentations by Federal Ministers Dreyfus and Wong, and one of the NSW Liberal ministers. But often there too much attention to Australian culture and politics, a false assumption of relevance to an international audience, from both high income and low income countries.
There was a strong emphasis on ensuring diversity of representation, and individual story-telling to highlight multiple oppressions within the queer world. There was much discussion of personal perspectives on intersectionality, but hardly any mention of class, and no collective strategies about destroying power structures of oppression.
There was an inspiring panel on religion, with people speaking of faith journeys, notably Imam Muhsin Hendricks, who was a leader of the anti-Apartheid struggle in Cape Town. But there was no discussion on how to strategically break the social, political and economic power of religious institutions.
There were also reflections on decolonisation, but this is not only about changing our mindsets. There was no discussion of actual anti-colonial struggles and how they relate to queer politics: Palestine, Kanaky/New Caledonia, West Papua, other Pacific island colonies, Western Sahara…. There was some testimony on Afghanistan and Ukraine.
The theory of change of organisers and WorldPride is top down, getting funds from big business. And assuming they are the key agents for change for queer equality and freedom, through rainbow branding and selling diversity and inclusion training for managers. Ironically the session on pink washing was a panel of senior managers from Coles, Deloitte and Amex. The workplace equality session originally only had CEOs, as if the corporate world had been the reason we have won rights at work, rather than our own movement, allied with trade unions and other social movements. After some pressure, trade union leaders who could talk clearly on the realities for queer workers were included in these panels: Michele O’Neill, president of ACTU and Wil Stracke from Victorian Trades Hall.
The conference failed to properly situate intersex, trans, gay or lesbian rights in the broader human rights struggles for democratic rights. The struggles against increasing authoritarianism, and for worker’s rights, reproductive rights, indigenous rights, women’s rights, child rights, social rights, media freedom, refugee/migrant rights, and the fight for environment/climate justice were not explored.
The conference was addressed by Victor Madrigal-Borloz the UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, but it failed to build strategic alliances, with human rights campaign organisations, trade unions, and other democratic and social justice movements.
78ers Robyn Kennedy and Dennis Altman, albeit too briefly, speaking in plenaries, invoked the urgency of action around queer refugees and acute repression or ominous trends in countries such as Myanmar, China, Russia, Indonesia, Uganda, USA, Poland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt.
It was fantastic to meet with old and new activists from around Australia and across the world. The conference was an example of elite capture of the leadership of a social movement. The conference was not designed to enable debates, open discussion, campaigns, resolutions, statements, strategies and alliances for social justice. So there were missed opportunities.
Ken Davis
78er and First Mardi Gras Inc. Co-Chair
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On 3-4 March Pride History Group held their 2023 conference at Marrickville Library. Among the presentations were papers by 78ers Sallie Colechin (on the role of women in SGLMG) and John Witte (on the NSW Gay Trade Unionists’ Group 1978-1980). Together with Ken Davis, John also spoke on the past 50 years of trade union activism.
Robert French was scheduled to speak but was unable to attend on the day due to health issues. In his absence Geraldine Fela presented a paper on the memories of a nurse in rural Victoria during the AIDS crisis.
Diane Minnis was also unable to attend (due to COVID), and the panel discussion she and Ken Davis were to have hosted on Fifty Years of Activism and International Solidarity was instead delivered by Ken alone with a particular emphasis on First Mardi Gras and the heritage of internationalism, as well as misinterpretations of aspects of events in the 1970s.
At the reception held the previous evening the PHG President, Shirleene Robinson (NSW State Library) presented Awards for Excellence to three past office bearers – Robert French, Diane Minnis and John Witte – in recognition of their outstanding contribution to preserving Sydney's LGBTIQ+ history
Karl Zlotkowski
78er and First Mardi Gras Inc. Secretary
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Sunday 5 March was the last day of Sydney World Pride 2023, and the day chosen for its symbolic public event – a mass march over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Senator Penny Wong, together with InterPride visitors, dignitaries and the Rainbow Serpent, a crowd of 50,000 (or was it 70,000?) people ambled north to south over the span and across the Quay to the Domain.
Walking across the Bridge is not just fun – it’s an assertion of community. Ever since the 1920s the Sydney Bridge has symbolised connection, hope, aspiration and unity of purpose. By crossing in a crowd we declare ourselves and share the exhilaration – we take ownership of Sydney’s global symbol of connection.
This is why the 78ers were determined to turn out in force, at 6:30 am on a Sunday in a part of North Sydney where 78ers rarely tread. The turnout was much larger than we expected, and as a group we put on a splendid show behind the 45th Anniversary banner, with Helen Gollan and Johnny Whitehead in the lead as motorised escorts.
Job done: we declared our community and we took possession of that symbolic connection. And as Robyn Kennedy said in her speech before we set off, we marched also not only for ourselves but for those all over the world who cannot!
The Sydney Bridge is about community, connection and hope.
Video by Garry Case Watch | Facebook.
Karl Zlotkowski
78er and First Mardi Gras Inc. Secretary
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As we prepared for the WorldPride Bridge Walk on 5 March, I heard that Community Action for Rainbow Rights (CARR) had organised a Snap Action in Newtown at 12 noon, in response to the very aggressive Friday night march in Newtown by Christian Lives Matter activists. I already knew about this from straight neighbours who were very upset that such bad behaviour had occurred in our Newtown community.
I spoke to various people as we were preparing to march, and realised the Snap Action was something that definitely needed to be supported. Karl Zlotkowski and I agreed to meet in Newtown with the 78ers banner.
It was quite a challenge after the early morning start, as we were all feeling a bit weary, and in the end only four 78ers made it to the CARR rally.
Various speakers from CARR, The Greens and from the community spoke, including one member of the Lebanese community who recognised that some of the Christian Lives Matter marchers from the previous Friday night were members of his own community. He warned that they would be encouraged and energised by community opposition. 78ers Diane Fieldes and Jess Hooley also spoke, including about the distress caused by Christian Lives Matters aggression against the Pitt Street Uniting Church.
After an energetic hour and a half of speeches the Snap Action broke up, with the very definite intent to continue the struggle!
Richard Thode
78er and First Mardi Gras Inc. Treasurer
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Huge congratulations to the Chillout committee, it was a wonderful day on 12 March. Each year the number of entries and Fair Day at the end of Parade are growing. Nate Byrne from ABC again this year was the MC and did a great job.
As a 78er I felt proud to be there on the day with my partner Virginia. Thank you all would love to see some other 78ers next year to help keep the movement going in rural and regional areas.
Helen Gollan, Butch now and forever
78er and First Mardi Gras Inc. member
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78er badges and our new Always an Ally badges are $5 each and postage is $3.09 (total $8.09). Postage is still $3.09 for up to five badges. To order badges, email your name, postal address and the number of badges required to info@78ers.org.au. Then make your payment by funds transfer. Use your name as the deposit reference. You can also post a cheque to PO Box 1029 Glebe NSW 2037.
Voices from 1978 The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, is a 104 page, A5 book. You can get your copy for $15 plus $5 postage from Orders — First Mardi Gras (78ers.org.au) or buy it from The Bookshop Darlinghurst for $19.99. The Bookshop also does overseas orders, but best to email info@thebookshop.com.au for a postage quote. |
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Calendar of Events
- First Mardi Gras Inc. General Meeting 4pm, Saturday 22 April 2023 by Zoom
- First Mardi Gras Inc. 78ers Lunch – 12pm, Sunday 7 May 2023, Terminus Hotel, Pyrmont, downstairs room, RSVP: info@78ers.org.au
- Broken Heel Festival, Broken Hill – 7-11 September 2023 Broken Heel Festival (bhfestival.com), tickets Shop — Broken Heel Festival (bhfestival.com)
- Sapphire Coast Pride, Bega Valley, www.Facebook.com/groups/sapphirecoastpride
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