Campaign to protect Sydney Mardi Gras amid ‘internal divisions' over police participation
An informal group of Mardi Gras members are campaigning to bring 'disillusioned' members back into the fold ahead of an annual general meeting expected in December.
Also seeking new members, the Protect Mardi Gras campaign aims to 'protect' the inclusive character of the world-famous event and resist efforts to ban NSW police from participating.
Organiser Peter Stahel said Mardi Gras members got 'within a handful of votes' in 2024 of banning police from attending the event following a string of controversies.
'It is the most visible celebration of LGBT people in the world, and it's incredible precious. I truly believe it saves lives – I really do,' Mr Stahel said of Mardi Gras.
'That's why we're doing this. We're not doing it because we want to protect the cops. We want to protect the cops' right to be in the parade.
'We want to protect that because of the power of Mardi Gras and the good that it does for people who are oftentimes really struggling to come to terms with who they are.'
Mr Stahel believed the push to ban police, and the subsequent pushback against that, went beyond a 'difference of opinion'.
He feared pushes to alienate certain groups from the parade would lead to other groups potentially being formally alienated as well in the future.
'They think we should ban cops. I disagree, but they're still welcome at Mardi Gras, right?' My Stahel said of groups opposed to police participation.
'So, what they're saying is 'anyone we disagree with shouldn't be invited'.
'Mardi Gras is built on this principle that in order to create change, you need to build alliances.
'You need to bring people in, you need to convince people, you need to change hearts, you need to change minds.'
Mr Stahel said campaigners were not pushing back on 'understandable anxieties or concerns about the police'.
'What we are saying is, even if only one in 100 cops are a true ally, it makes no sense to reject that one person,' he said.
'Let's celebrate this person. Let's celebrate the fact that they are brave enough to stand up and be visible.
'That's what Mardi Gras has been doing since 1998 when the cops first joined the parade.'
Mr Stahel pushed back on claims Mardi Gras had 'lost its way' as a protest, its origin rooted in bringing in people who might not otherwise have been able to be involved.
The campaign has received the backing of 78er Peter Murphy, one of the initial activists who marched in the original Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978.
While he said activists faced 'real and raw' police brutality in the early days, 'progress does not come only from shouting people down'.
'It comes from showing up, educating, challenging, and building alliances.' he said.
Mr Murphy pushed back against what he said was a movement to ban 'LGBTQIA+ police, military, certain political parties, and corporate sponsors'.
'Their goal isn't to broaden the movement – it's to use it to punish,' he said.
'Their strategy is to stack the AGM, take over the board, and totally change what Mardi Gras is and has been.'
Attempts to ban police from Mardi Gras were only narrowly defeated at last year's AGM.
Members voted 493 to 459 against banning police.
The failed resolution was moved by the Mardi Gras board and based on community consultation that it said found 54 per cent of respondents opposed police participation.
It came after the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies by NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon – who has not entered any pleas and whose matter is still before the courts – as well as the Special Commission of Inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes.
One of the groups advocating for police to be excluded is Pride in Protest.
In a video shortly after the December AGM, the group said it was not a matter of if police would be excluded from the march but when.
The group has been contacted for comment.
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