Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras director Luc Velez has taken leave from the board to contest the federal seat of Sydney as the Greens candidate, challenging long-serving Labor MP Tanya Plibersek.
In a sit-down interview with Gay Sydney News about his run for office, Velez said he voluntarily took leave from the board shortly before Mardi Gras’ Fair Day on February 16 to avoid any perceived conflict of interest during his candidacy. Mardi Gras did not issue an official media release about his leave at the time.
Velez’s pause from duties means the activist collective he represents on the Mardi Gras board, Pride in Protest, has been without one of its two votes for more than two months.
However, Velez said he felt “very comfortable being able to take a back seat for a few months” during the election campaign, describing fellow director and Pride in Protest member Damien Nguyen as “one of the most competent organisers I’ve worked with in a long time”.
Velez described the decision to step aside as voluntary but noted there had been “lots of robust discussion” within Mardi Gras about how best to handle his Greens candidacy, particularly around the appropriate timing for him to step aside.
“It would have been a really difficult fight to say I should remain on the board while I’m running in the election,” Velez said.
If successful in unseating Plibersek – a scenario viewed as unlikely given the seat’s longstanding status as one of Labor’s safest – Velez confirmed he would formally resign his Mardi Gras directorship. Should he be unsuccessful, he intends to resume his position following the election.
At 25, Velez has emerged as a prominent figure within Sydney’s queer activist circles, notably through Pride in Protest – a collective aimed at returning Mardi Gras to its activist origins.
Velez has been active in Pride in Protest for about a year and a half, after joining the group shortly before running for the Mardi Gras board in December 2023 and securing a directorship.
He said there were “huge similarities” between his approach to politics with the Greens and Pride in Protest, pointing to a shared confidence in community and a belief in the power of grassroots organising. He noted that Pride in Protest often works closely with Greens MPs on common causes.
Currently employed as a staffer for NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong, Velez’s role has involved advocacy on public housing issues, particularly in Leong’s Newtown electorate. He is also studying law part-time at the University of Sydney, expecting to graduate by the end of 2026.
“Public housing is so disastrously underfunded and ignored at a state government level,” he said.
“There’s so many tenants who need us to directly advocate for them to get something fixed that’s been broken for ages, or they desperately need to transfer to somewhere safer.”
His decision to challenge Plibersek, the federal minister for environment, came after the Labor government approved extensions to three coal mines last September, a move Velez described as “outrageous”.
“My background’s in climate activism,” he said. “I just found that so outrageous that … Plibersek … is personally approving coal mine extensions, and that just fuelled me with enough rage to do the crazy thing and put my hand up.”
Before joining the Greens, Velez was involved with Extinction Rebellion in France, a direct-action climate movement, and the Australian Student Environment Network, a student-led environmental group. He said he was once arrested as an activist but never charged.
On queer rights, Velez expressed frustration with both major parties’ reluctance to, in his view, strongly defend LGBTQIA+ communities, particularly around trans rights and protections from discrimination.
He also criticised recent changes in Queensland that have restricted access to puberty blockers for patients under 18 while a review is carried out, describing them as deeply concerning, and noted the lack of federal intervention.
Gender-affirming care is “life-saving for lots of people”, Velez said.
“There seems to be no deliberate political … weight put behind an active defence of trans rights coming from the [federal] government.”
He likewise criticised the Labor Party’s ongoing delays to Sex Discrimination Act reforms. Such reforms would’ve protected teachers at faith-based schools from being fired and students from being expelled if they publicly identify as LGBTQIA+.
“We need to force the major parties to finally amend our anti-discrimination laws to make sure that queer kids in religious schools and workers in all workplaces have robust legal protections from discrimination,” he said.
In his pitch to queer voters, Velez pointed to recent Greens policy announcements, including the establishment of an LGBTQIA+ Human Rights Commissioner to be a watchdog for members of the queer community who still face discrimination, and making HIV-prevention medications PrEP and PEP free nationwide.
Reflecting on Mardi Gras itself, Velez praised Fair Day as an example of the event at its best – community-oriented, inclusive, and accessible. However, he said he would “certainly like to see less corporates in the parade”, aligning with Pride in Protest’s consistent critique of Mardi Gras’ increasing commercialisation.
Velez also maintained his position that police should not march in the Mardi Gras parade, a stance Pride in Protest has long championed.
“I think Mardi Gras should have a stronger role in activism,” he said, adding, “[just] existing as queer people, for lots of people, is political already, and Mardi Gras shouldn’t shy away from that … part of its history.”
Velez, who identifies as queer and gay, is no stranger to discrimination, having previously discussed his experiences with homophobia publicly.
In a 2018 opinion piece in The Guardian, he detailed the stark contrast between his difficult experiences at a conservative religious school and the supportive environment his sister encountered at another school.
“It was a very intense, homophobic experience,” he told Gay Sydney News.
In 2016, when he was 16, he also publicly questioned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about feminism, underscoring his longstanding political engagement.
Despite his criticisms of Plibersek, Velez acknowledged Labor’s longstanding hold on the Sydney seat, which Plibersek has represented since 1998, conceding his candidacy in this election is primarily about laying groundwork for future change.
“This is the election where we build the foundation to … see Sydney go Greens soon,” Velez said, citing demographic shifts and his view of there being increased dissatisfaction with Labor’s positions on a number of issues.
Velez outlined several key Greens policies he hopes will resonate with voters, including capping rents, investing in public housing, and reforming taxes to fund mental and dental healthcare through Medicare. He also backs free education at universities and TAFE.
“I’ve watched more and more of my friends forced out of Sydney after massive rent hikes,” he said.
“It doesn’t have to be like this – we urgently need to cap rents, build good quality public homes and finally reform negative gearing and capital gains tax.”
Regardless of the outcome in Sydney, Velez described the May 3 election as “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to secure a minority government where the Greens could push Labor to “actually tackle the climate, cost of living and housing crises”.
However, Labor leader Anthony Albanese has explicitly ruled out forming government with the Greens if Labor falls short of a majority.
Meanwhile, the Coalition has said it would instead negotiate with independents to form government if it falls short of a majority.
Editor’s note: This article was written by Ben Grubb, who pays $50 annually for Mardi Gras memberships to access discounts, including at retail stores and bars, but doesn’t use the membership’s voting rights.
Gay Sydney News editor