The Sydney Mardi Gras board has written to members of NSW’s parliament informing them they will no longer be welcome to the Mardi Gras parade if they oppose Sydney MP Alex Greenwich’s Equality Bill, which is designed to modernise laws and advance equality for the LGBTIQA+ community.
In a letter to MPs on Friday, the board said that Mardi Gras members had demonstrated clear support for the passage of the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 and encouraged MPs to do the same.
“Our communities face ongoing systemic discrimination, much of this enacted through legislation that has facilitated and encouraged such behaviours,” the board said. “The legacy of such legislation continues to be pervasive, limiting the ability for LGBTQIA+ people to fully and safely participate in society.”
The Mardi Gras board went on to say (see the full letter at the end of this article) that its members supported a motion declaring “that any parliamentarian who votes against this bill should not participate in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Parade or seek promotion through materials at our Fair Day event”.
“The Board of SGLMG [Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras] believe that our legislators’ support for Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ constituents must exist year-round, not just on days of celebration and pride. Our community is large and diverse, and the annual Sydney Mardi Gras Festival is a powerful chance to reach our communities to demonstrate allyship.
“Those who choose to take part in our events of safety, celebration and protest, should also support us in their roles as elected leaders,” it said.
Greenwich told Gay Sydney News on Monday that he was “working with colleagues across the parliament to ensure [the] LGBTIQA+ bill passes this year, and I hope to join as many of them as possible to celebrate its passage at next year’s Mardi Gras”.
The actions of the board come after campaigning by activist group Pride in Protest, which had threatened to call an extraordinary general meeting of the Mardi Gras organisation over the police’s involvement in Mardi Gras. Pride in Protest oppose police marching in Mardi Gras.
An extraordinary general meeting is a meeting of members that is not its scheduled annual general meeting. It is used as a way to meet and deal with urgent matters that arise during downtime between the organisation’s annual meetings.
In May, Pride in Protest put to the Mardi Gras board two ways forward to avoid an extraordinary general meeting, with the group’s primary objective being to hold three town halls to discuss the police’s involvement in Mardi Gras.
As a show of good faith, Pride in Protest asked the board to follow through with the motion introduced by Mardi Gras members at last year’s annual general meeting year, which called on MPs to back the Equality Bill.
Motion 10, which passed at last year’s annual general meeting, called on Mardi Gras to:
- Send correspondence to the sitting members of the Labor and Liberal parties calling upon them to support the Equality Bill in full; and
- Notify them that if they oppose the Equality Bill, then these MPs will not be welcome to march in the parade or be promoted through materials at Fair Day.
Pride in Protest spokesperson Rohen Snowball said LGBTI+ community members were “not going to be tokenised”.
“If the government won’t show up for us by passing the bill, then we will protest,” Snowball said. This included protesting the scheduled apology by NSW Premier Chris Minns this Thursday over laws that criminalised homosexuality.
“We will protest the apology this Thursday, and we will keep protesting if they turn up at Fair Day and the parade,” Snowball said.
The actions of the Mardi Gras board come as NSW Labor Attorney-General Michael Daley made a submission to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the Equality Bill that identified several issues with it.
Sydney MP Alex Greenwich introduced the Equality Bill in June 2023. It was the result of more than 18 months of community consultation. In an audit, he found more than 500 NSW laws that disadvantage or discriminate against the LGBTI+ community.
“Over the last 40 years, we have broken down many barriers for LGBTIQA+ people to create a brighter future for younger generations. But not all barriers have been removed, with discrimination still embedded in a number of laws,” Greenwich said at the time of the bill’s introduction.
The bill ensures access to gender-affirming state documentation, and provides a model for consent in medical procedures on people with intersex variations, removal of targeted discrimination including in schools, and other reforms that arose during consultation.
One of the bill’s components was to also ban conversion therapy practices. Such a ban has since been passed by the Labor government through its own bill.
In a submission to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the Equality Bill, Attorney-General Michael Daley said several of its proposed amendments to the law would have “unintended consequences” and may present “operation risks” and would “raise complex policy issues.”
Some of these sections include amendments to search powers and apprehended violence orders. But Daley said that “some risks may be able to be mitigated through amended drafting”.
A report by the inquiry is due on Monday (June 3) with a recommendation as to whether the Equality Bill should proceed to be voted upon.
Read the letter sent by the Mardi Gras board to NSW parliamentarians in full:
We write to seek your commitment to supporting the upcoming Private Member’s Bill Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) 2023, which is currently being reviewed by the Legislative Assembly Committee for Community Services.
This Bill contains important improvements in the areas of birth certificate reform, ending exceptions to anti-discrimination legislation, protecting sex workers in the antidiscrimination act, and ensuring equality for members of the LGBTQIA+ communities. These issues are vital to the communities that Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) serve.
The last Annual General Meeting of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras members demonstrated clear support for the organisation to advocate for the passage of the Members Bill as it stands, a stance supported by the Board and the organisation. We encourage you support the Bill, including any amendments to the Bill which fortify the rights of community, and oppose any amendments which would delay the outcomes sought by the Bill unduly. We understand that there may be debate on referring parts of the Bill to government reviews and commissions, likely delaying urgent reforms by several years. Such a delay would leave many parts of our community vulnerable and without much-needed legal protections.
Our communities face ongoing systemic discrimination, much of this enacted through legislation that has facilitated and encouraged such behaviours. The legacy of such legislation continues to be pervasive, limiting the ability for LGBTQIA+ people to fully and safely participate in society.
Members of our Annual Meeting supported a motion declaring that any Parliamentarian who votes against this Bill should not participate in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Parade or seek promotion though materials at our Fair Day event.
The Board of SGLMG believe that our legislators’ support for Sydney’s LGBTQIA+ constituents must exist year-round, not just on days of celebration and pride. Our community is large and diverse, and the annual Sydney Mardi Gras Festival is a powerful chance to reach our communities to demonstrate allyship. Those who choose to take part in our events of safety, celebration and protest, should also support us in their roles as elected leaders.
It is imperative that our members, participants and broader community know that our events continue to be safe spaces where we can be assured that we are surrounded by those who support us, our goals and the advancement of our rights.
We understand that being part of pride events offers unique opportunities for politicians and community leaders. Participation in our events, especially our Parade, have long been a resource for political leaders to demonstrate support for our LGBTQIA+ communities. We urge you to support this Bill, and support LGBTQIA+ communities and stand with us year-round.
Our communities need you to stand with us every day, as well as on our days of celebration.
The LGBTQIA+ community faces ongoing and systemic challenges of equality, discrimination and violence. Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras exists to create moments to come together in safety, equality and celebration. In the work towards equality, we need true friends and allies.
We IMPLORE you to use your vote to support equality, to make a declaration that our rights are important, and to work with members of your party to ensure that NSW takes the next important step towards LGBTQIA+ equality.
Gay Sydney News reporter
Gay Sydney News editor