The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organisation has officially terminated the Mardi Gras police accord following a majority of members voting in favour of tearing it up.
Mardi Gras members voted to cancel the controversial accord at the last Mardi Gras annual general meeting on December 9 after activist group Pride in Protest put forward a motion for it to be terminated.
There were 296 votes for the motion, 147 against and 4 voters who abstained.
The accord was first signed between NSW Police and Mardi Gras in 2014 following a violent arrest the year prior. The accord allowed police, among other activities, to conduct “a visual inspection of those intending to take part in the Mardi Gras parade so as to ensure that public decency is not offended”.
The motion that passed, proposed by Rohen Snowball of Pride in Protest, read as follows:
Cancel the Mardi Gras Police Accord, and in doing so:
- Condemn the use of [the] drug dog program used by the NSW police and heavy police presence during Mardi Gras
- Abolish the use of so-called ‘decency checks’ by police during the parade, as they are an act of sanctioned sexual abuse and assault by police
- Stand in solidarity with Blak Lives Matter and to end deaths in custody
- Support the right to protest and lift NSW’s repressive protest restrictions
At the time of the vote, the Mardi Gras board opposed the motion to remove the accord, saying it existed to “ensure all people attending our events feel safe, protected and are treated fairly”.
The vote by members has since been considered by the board, ultimately resulting in its decision to end the accord. Mardi Gras did not say when the accord had been cancelled.
“Following the AGM [annual general meeting], the [Mardi Gras] organisation has not renewed the police accord,” the Mardi Gras organisation said in a statement to Gay Sydney News.
“We continue to work with NSWPF [the New South Wales Police Force] to ensure operational policing of our events is in the best interest of our communities.”
Police had been notified of the accord’s removal, Mardi Gras confirmed.
NSW Police said in a statement to Gay Sydney News: “While the NSW Police Force is no longer part of the accord, we remain committed to continuing to support the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival.”
Soon after the vote to have the accord cancelled, Pride in Protest hailed their motion’s victory, saying it marked a step forward for the LGBTI+ community.
“It’s fantastic that members have supported tearing up the police accord,” said Pride in Protest’s Riley Brooke.
“Another key part of Pride in Protest’s founding platform that we have campaigned hard on for years has been our opposition to Mardi Gras’ complicity with police violence, and today marks a huge step forward.”
The Mardi Gras organisation has yet to say how it will move forward with NSW Police, which will continue its role of providing security for the parade and other Mard Gras events.
The Mardi Gras organisation has previously told Gay Sydney News that every large-scale event in NSW is “required by law to have a police presence to address any potential external threats such as terrorism, or any situation that may become unsafe for event attendees”.
“As one of the largest gatherings in NSW, Sydney Mardi Gras nor the parade is exempt from this. In relation to the motion on the police accord, it is important to note that cancelling the accord does not mean there will cease to be a police operation at parade,” Mardi Gras said.
“The accord allowed for Sydney Mardi Gras to have input [in] the planning of the police operation, so that we could ensure that our communities are made to feel safe, protected and are treated fairly and equitably at parade.
“We hear the voices of our members which were expressed at the AGM [annual general meeting] that there are concerns about how these processes are managed, and we commit to listening and evolving how we continue to advocate for safe and celebratory spaces for LGBTQIA+ people.”
Editor’s note: Journalists Ben Grubb and Eliot Hastie are both Sydney Mardi Gras members for discount purposes only.
Gay Sydney News reporter
Gay Sydney News editor