An activist float has been kicked out of the Sydney Mardi Gras less than 24 hours out from the parade after it claimed a Jewish float supported genocide.
Pride in Protest, a left-wing group that has previously marched in the parade with Palestinian flags and recently claimed the Mardi Gras organisation is transphobic, was excluded after not replying to a formal warning issued on Friday morning.
Mardi Gras Chief Executive Jesse Matheson emailed Pride and Protest at 11am on Friday asking the group to remove an Instagram post characterising a Jewish float, Dayenu, as “pro-genocide” and alleging they “support genocide”.
“[Mardi Gras] considers that the nature and manner of these statements, directed at a fellow approved parade entrant, raises serious concerns regarding compliance with the code of conduct,” he wrote. The organisation had received complaints about Pride in Protest’s posts.
Mardi Gras’ code of conduct prohibits parade participants from harassing, bullying or discriminating other participants.
Dayenu had pulled out of this year’s parade, citing safety concerns following the Bondi attack. However, last week they announced they were rejoining the march.
A spokesperson for Dayenu said it was “deeply offended and hurt” by the social media posts.
“Dayenu is not a Zionist organisation, and we feel that word is being used to insult our Jewish community, in place of the word Jew or Jewish,” they said.
In November 2023, the Mardi Gras organisation published a letter supporting a ceasefire in Israel-Palestine conflict. Dayenu expressed concern they were not consulted before the letter went out, and later resolved the matter with the organisation’s previous chief executive.
Mardi Gras said it wished to support Pride in Protest’s continued participation in the parade, noting it had until 5pm on Friday to remove the posts, and provide written confirmation they understood and complied with the parade’s terms and conditions.
However, Pride in Protest did not reply to the email, letter or subsequent follow-up emails. At 9pm on Friday, Matheson informed the organisation they had been excluded from the parade.
“It is disappointing that we did not receive any acknowledgement of our correspondence, nor
confirmation that you had read and would comply with the parade terms and conditions,” Matheson said in the nighttime email.
“We had hoped to resolve this matter constructively to allow for Pride in Protest’s participation in this year’s Parade. As no response was received within the required timeframe, the Pride in Protest entry has regrettably been removed from the parade.”
Pride in Protest slammed their removal on Saturday morning, calling on Mardi Gras to immediately revoke the decision.
Spokesperson Jean Maxine said the emails went unanswered because they were sent during business hours to an individual from the organisation who was working at the time.
“This one individual is a full-time worker in the medical sector, so emailing within working hours to request a response by COB is unreasonable,” she said.
“The deadline of 5pm allowed for only six hours for the collective to respond. Requests for an extension of this deadline, made over the phone, were declined.”
Matheson said Pride in Protest “were asked to remove unacceptable public commentary levelled against another small community group and refused”.
“This is not censorship or about suppressing a political viewpoint. Pride in Protest has marched for many years under the banner of ‘No Pride In Genocide’ and Mardi Gras provided that space,” he said.
“This is about conduct including harassment of other participants and refusal to comply or acknowledge agreed terms and conditions.”
The Dayenu spokesperson said its group was willing to meet with Pride and Protest “to find common ground and build a respectful and informed relationship of each other”. It said it supported the decision to enforce the code of conduct.
“We believe Mardi Gras has become a safer and more inclusive space for the LGBT+ community, now that Mardi Gras is enforcing basic decency in how it expects members to treat each other,” they said.
NSW Greens MP Amanda Cohn called the removal of Pride in Protest “an extraordinary act of censorship”.
“Especially when the organisers are happy to include the Liberal Party, who have called for the parade’s funding to be reviewed and continue to vote against LGBTQIA+ rights in parliament,” she added.
Pride in Protest have announced plans to protest the decision on Saturday, marching from Town Hall to the parade marshalling area at Hyde Park at 3.30pm.
The 48th annual Sydney Mardi Gras will begin at 7.30pm.
NSW Police will launch a high-visibility operation on Saturday involving general police and riot squad officers to monitor the parade. Police said on Friday there was no imminent threat to the event.
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