And that’s a wrap on another fabulous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Thank you for joining us throughout and we hope you have a fantastic night. These reporters are off for a boogie!
Following on from our previous sighting of NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car, who joined the Department of Education float decked out in a bedazzled red blazer, here is a list of some of the other politicians who marched tonight.
Federal Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek has made an appearance, dancing alongside Rainbow Labor. Right next to her was NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, the first open lesbian elected to the NSW Parliament. We caught a glimpse of the pair before they dashed away.
NSW Opposition leader Kellie Sloane has led the Liberal Party float. “It is amazing to be here and to see so much support,” she said.
Notable politicians who were absent were Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who participated in last year’s parade and made history as the first sitting PM to march in Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade in 2023, and NSW Premier Chris Minns, who has also previously marched.
If you can’t see them, then you may need a visit to the optometrist.
Here comes what is possibly the largest float in this year’s march – Colours of Our Community.
They won “Best Float Design” in last year’s parade. This year, with more than 80 choreographed dancers and 50 marchers, their theme: Club EcstatiKIKI, Sanctuary of Queer Joy – blends Greek mythology with KiKi culture, a ballroom dancing subculture originating from New York City’s black and Latin youth.
“This year will probably be our biggest float ever,” said Paul Savage, who will march alongside 50 refugees from 26 countries.
“We’re going back to the time of the Greek gods, when all love was accepted and all strangers were welcomed.”
We are almost at the end of the night, and it has just started to drizzle.
But it hasn’t had an impact on the crowd, who are as rambunctious as ever. There might not be an official after party, but we suspect this celebration will go on long into the night
Herald photographers Flavio Brancaleone and Audrey Richardson are on the scene to capture some shots of revellers and marchers on Sydney’s night of nights.
It’s the Australian Asexuals 10-year parade celebration this year, and here they come dazzling in their theme “Magical, Marvellous and Myth Busting”.
The float has grown from just one banner and 10 participants marching before a confused crowd not understanding what asexual meant, to dozens of marchers who have just walked past on Oxford Street tonight.
Donning gray aprons with purple and black platters – the colours of the asexual flag – founder Elyse McKenzie said the theme was chosen to dispel the myths surrounding the sexuality: the often overlooked “A” in LGBTQIA+.
“One of the signs we’ve featured over a few years actually is, ‘I’m not broken’,” McKenzie said. “That’s actually resonated with a lot of the community – having little to no sexual attraction, a lot of people find it hard to understand. That doesn’t necessarily mean that a person’s fundamentally broken.”
“That’s where it kind of that myth busting comes into the play … that’s what we’re kind of celebrating, to see how far that we’ve come.”
Sydney’s Jewish LGBTQ group Dayenu, who reversed their decision to pull out of this year’s parade, have marched with many police members flanked by their side.
Dayenu said they would not participate in this year’s Mardi Gras, citing safety concerns following the Bondi attack. However, last week it announced it was rejoining the march.
It comes after controversial events today which saw Mardi Gras exclude Pride in Protest’s float after the activist group made social media posts claiming Dayenu supported genocide.
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.
Mardi Gras chief executive Jesse Matheson emailed Pride in Protest at 11am on Friday, asking the group to remove an Instagram post that characterised a Jewish float, Dayenu, as “pro-genocide” and alleging it “support[s] genocide”.
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.
The decision attracted criticism from NSW Greens MPs Amanda Cohn and Jenny Leong, as well as Mark Gillespie – one of the 78ers, who took part in the first Mardi Gras protest in 1978.
Heath Seib and Darren Sheen – who, as we reported earlier, tied the knot before the parade today – have hit Oxford Street with their on a wedding-themed float.
Thirty years on from their first meeting at the 1996 Mardi Gras, Seib and Sheen got married around 2pm before joining the parade. About 200 guests attended the couple’s nuptials at the Hollywood Hotel in Surry Hills, dressed head-to-toe in white wedding tuxes or gowns.
Read more of their story here.
A wave of bright blue can be seen marching on Oxford Street.
It’s one of Mardi Gras’ most iconic groups, the Itty Bitty Titty Committee, which champions lesbian visibility across generations. The group unites members from 78ers through to Gen Alpha in a joyful, unapologetic celebration of pride.
Tonight is their 21st year marching in the parade.
“We celebrate lesbian visibility, queer feminism with all of our intersectional allies, and this year we’re paying tribute to our girl Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Jasmine Jev said. “And we have a bit of a special dance routine coming out.”
Asked what their theme “Ladies who Munch” refers to, Jev cheekily laughed. “If you know, you know,” she said.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car has joined the department float decked out in a bedazzled red blazer. After a long hiatus while she battled cancer, it’s good to see Car back in action.
She posed for photos before the parade with Health Minister Ryan Park, NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce, and NSW Education Secretary Murat Dizdar.
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