The genocide in Palestine has generated a vast and energetic international solidarity movement, which is challenging political parties and other social movements to step up.
This is the case in the queer movement, with a conflict symptomatic of “elite capture” in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG), which held its annual general membership meeting on November 28.
In the lead-up to the 49th Mardi Gras parade early next year, the fight is about the spirit and soul and identity of the parade, and the independence of a key community and social justice movement event from big business and government. This conflict is also evident around the world, with Pride marches bifurcating into establishment or radical incarnations.
In recent years, the radical team Pride in Protest (PiP) has had directors elected to the Mardi Gras board. It is a loose alliance of queer Greens, socialists, anarchists, trans, union, refugee and sex worker activists, who have been engaged in anti-racist and Palestine solidarity demonstrations.
They have been carrying “No Pride in Genocide” banners in recent Mardi Gras parades.
This year there was an orchestrated reaction in the form of a well-resourced campaign supporting Labor and Liberal political staffers for the Mardi Gras board elections, called “Protect Mardi Gras” (PMG).
They cast PiP as badly behaved disruptors hell bent on destroying the Mardi Gras festival and parade. PMG used rhetoric about “inclusion”, which ultimately focused on the NSW Police and big business sponsors.
Premier Chris Minns may be sensitive to messages in the parade about police corruption, racism and violence, increasing repression of protests and free speech, failure to advance equality or drug law reform and about NSW government solidarity with the Israeli state.
State governments want a toned-down, apolitical, family-friendly celebration, like Moomba, that will earn tourist dollars for travel and hospitality businesses, on the backs of volunteer community labour and creativity.
Mardi Gras is an important event for Gadigal Country/Sydney — just as Vivid, Festival of Sydney, Sydney Film Festival and the Writers’ Festival are. As a broadcast, it amplifies social, political and advertising messages well beyond the city.
War on democracy
With the 21st century global war on democracy and human rights particularly affecting queer people, the political messages in Mardi Gras about freedom, not just in Australia, but across the globe, are increasingly relevant.
The parade is loved because of its satire, inversion, subversion, sexuality, topicality, humour, glamour, edginess, outrageousness and resistance.
In the Christian tradition of Mardi Gras/carnival, or the Feast of Fools, it about speaking truth to power, rather than worshiping it.
People want to see the queer communities’ participation in the parade; the international and ethnic groups, dancers, sexual tribes, local and sporting groups, health and disability groups and the groups of workers and volunteers. They want to see teachers, vets, nurses, lifesavers, construction and trades people, welfare, fire and emergency services and unions, who are not glorifying their employers.
There is a difference between the creativity of Qantas workers and the love they received from the crowds when they first came in the parade, and how people feel about a float celebrating Qantas as a high-profit company and employer.
There is a big difference between Acceptance Sydney and Catholics fighting to transform the church, and a float lauding the church hierarchy.
There is a difference between queer police marching, and the Police Force as an institution, with uniformed and armed officers.
Some 46.6% of Mardi Gras members voted in the annual general meeting against NSW Police officially taking part in the parade. This was motivated by the record number of Aboriginal deaths in custody in NSW this year, “unfinished business” around a history of gay murders, invasive drug searches, transphobia and instances of violence against peaceful protesters, such as Hannah Thomas.
There has been greater censorship of parade entries in recent years by a non-transparent “curatorial” committee which, each year, rejects community groups as too sexual, political or satirical. Each year the parade rejects one of the union groups, Union Pride, teachers and, this year, nurses, despite their crucial role since 1978.
One veteran creative entrant, who previously was told sponsors could not be satirised, has now been told there can be no satire of “figures in public life”.
Must we expunge the memories of Doris Fish and the giant shoes of Imelda Marcos, or Fred Nile’s head on a platter? Each year the parade rejects one of the union groups, Union Pride, teachers, and, this year, nurses.
Big business floats
Big business advertising floats comprise a significant percentage of the 12,000 people in the parade (and in the ABC broadcast coverage), although sponsors are, and can be, rewarded in other ways.
Information about the benefits and obligations of sponsorships are “commercial in confidence” — effectively secret.
In recent years, big business advertising floats have promoted Coles, Woolworths, Amazon, Marriott hotels, ANZ, Amex, Star Casino, Deloitte, Qantas and Optus, despite major ethical and legal scandals about how they treat staff and customers or, in the case of some United States companies, their financial support for the Republicans.
In December 2023, Gil Beckwith, then SGLMG executive officer, sent an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese supporting a ceasefire in Palestine and saying Mardi Gras would reject any sponsorship by Israel. It was a wise move after the successful boycott of the Festival of Sydney in 2022 over Israel Embassy sponsorship.
As part of its pink washing, Israel then paid for a SGLMG board member to go on a solidarity tour in June with other international Pride groups, and conservative US transwoman influencer Caitlyn Jenner. The visit was dramatically interrupted by the exchange of missiles with Iran.
This year a motion to reject SGLMG linkages with Israel was defeated by just six votes — 557 to 563 votes — presumably with PMG proxies voting for “inclusion”.
PiP motions on Trump and transphobia, public funding for the parade and on pushing federal and state politicians towards meaningful anti-discrimination law reform were passed.
There were 1627 members voting in the elections for four director positions on the board.
According to PiP scrutineers, Luna Choo, topping their ticket, gained 528 first preference votes. Kathy Pavlich, incumbent SGLMG co-chair, gained 358.
Aspiring Labor politician, Savannah Peake, gained 293, and Liberal Party member and former Dave Sharma staffer, Jarrod Lomas, gained 199 — both on the PMG ticket.
The board now comprises two activists from PiP, two from Labor, one from Liberal Party and two others.
In the past, the board has used measures to suspend PiP members from the board. The elected directors would do well to manage political and reputational risk wisely, recognising how significant parts of the community are hostile to Mardi Gras linkages with Israel and including NSW Police and big business advertising floats in the parade.
[This article was first published in Pearls and Irritations. Ken Davis became a gay liberation activist in 1973. He was one of the founders of Gay Solidarity Group in June 1978 and an organiser of the first Mardi Gras, which was viciously attacked by police. He has worked since 1991 in international solidarity and development.]