On February 18, the yearly Mardi Gras street rally took place, hosted by Pride In Protest and USYD’s Queer Action Collective. The rally convened at Pride Square in Newtown and marched down to Hollis Park.
The protest revolved around a list of four demands to the NSW government: to pass the Equality Bill; to amend the Anti-Discrimination Act; to recognise the Palestinian genocide and stop all government support of Israel; and to scrap anti-protest laws and get cops out of pride. Despite a major police presence, Queer activists and allies marched peacefully down King St bearing flags, signs and chanting “Pride was a riot, we won’t stay quiet.”
Following the Welcome to Country by First Nations’ elder Rhonda Dixon, activists spoke about their demands. Evan Van Zijl read a speech from Queer unionist Sophie Cotton which shared sentiments of Queer solidarity. Intersectionality was discussed prominently throughout the protest, as the speakers connected various social justice issues back to Queer struggle and the dire need for liberation of all oppressed groups.
Darcy, a member of the Sex Worker Outreach Program (SWOP) spoke on the vital need for the NSW government to review their anti-discrimination laws and add protections for sex workers. Darcy recounted several times of sex workers being denied equal access to services such as housing, banking and medical services due to a lack of protections under the laws.
USyd First Nations Officer and Queer Dharug and Gundungurra activist Taylah Cooper’s speech discouraged pinkwashing and the presence of corporations at Mardi Gras, voicing that it is no longer safe for Queer people who have marginalised identities.
Cooper argued that the struggle for Queer liberation must include everyone, and that we cannot be truly free until we are all free. Greens member Amanda Cohn then urged the government to pass the pending legislation for a complete ban of sexuality and gender conversion practices across NSW.
Activist Aidy Magro spoke of the importance of Palestinian solidarity and the need to reject the attempted pinkwashing by the Israeli government. Magro called for an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and asserted that by continuing to work with Israeli institutions, USyd is complicit in genocide. The speakers called for the anti-protest laws to be repealed after causing police aggression and violent arrests.
Many speeches ended with the activists urging people to contact their local MPs to advocate for the demands.