Less than a week out from the annual Mardi Gras Parade, the Board of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras have uninvited the NSW Police Force. This comes after a serving police officer was charged with two counts of murder for killing a gay couple.
Pride in Protest took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to announce this, while NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb responded in the Daily Telegraph, revealing that the Mardi Gras Board informed her of the change after their meeting on Monday. The Daily Telegraph is also reporting that some board members are seeking to review the decision.
Webb said, “I get the distrust and the concern about this matter but don’t brand the whole organisation because of the actions of one individual.”
As Honi Soit covered in 2023, various groups within Sydney’s queer community have campaigned for the removal of cops from the parade for years. Mardi Gras initially started as a protest in 1978, but corporate advertising and state co-option have obfuscated this activist legacy. The news of police removal is already being celebrated within the queer community. Yet unfortunately, these events stand as a reminder of the history and nature of pride as protest, and the ongoing reality of police brutality.
Pride in Protest will be holding a press conference tomorrow (Tuesday February 27) at 3pm in Taylor Square calling for “the disarmament of the police, an end to Blak deaths in custody, and for the Police to be barred from participating in Mardi Gras for years to come.”
More to come.
UPDATE: The Sydney Mardi Gras Board released a statement explaining that their decision to “request that the Police do not march in the 2024 Parade” was motivated by the need to mitigate distress amongst the queer community and that it is a time to grieve, “pause and reflect”. The Board also said that they are “meeting with the Police to discuss further”.
An Australian Federal Police spokesperson also told the ABC that following the disinvitation of the NSW Police, “the AFP has also made the decision not to march.”
