The ABC has been slammed for its underwhelming coverage of Mardi Gras while outspoken senator Lidia Thorpe made a triumphant return after a disastrous appearance two years ago.
Tens of thousands of people lined Oxford Street and craned necks from rooftops and balconies to catch a glimpse of 181 floats taking part in the 47th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
Among the first of the floats was one from LaPa Legends which celebrates LGBTQ communities with links to the Aboriginal population of La Perouse in Sydney’s east.
Ms Thorpe, dressed as a superhero carrying a sign reading ‘Not My King’, walked alongside the float.
She announced her attendance in a short Facebook video where she made light of the controversy she caused when she lay down on the road in front of the Australian Federal Police float bringing the entire event to a screeching halt in 2023.
‘Take two, and yes, guess where I’m at… Mardi Gras! And I am with the La Perouse mob and we have our elders being driven like the queens that they are,’ she said.
Despite the festivities on the ground however, those who could not make it to the event spent the night chiding the ABC for its lackluster coverage.
Senator Lidia Thorpe has returned to Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade two years after her disastrous appearance in 2023
Roughly 180 floats participated in the event which drew tremendous crowds to Oxford Street
11,000 people marched in the 47th annual parade on Saturday
The public broadcaster relegated the parade itself to the background while its cameras focused on a panel of commentators simply talking about it instead.
‘Please ABC just show the parade I beg you,’ one woman wrote on social media.
‘Yo why is [the ABC’s] Mardi Gras coverage basically MISSING THE PARADE,’ another wrote.
‘No issues with the commentary but please just show the parade… you missed the first three floats – some of the most important floats,’ a third added.
’12 minutes in. Worst Mardi Gras coverage ever,’ a fourth announced.
While the parade could still be seen behind the commentators and in a little box on the bottom-right of the screen, many viewers thought it was a disgrace.
‘Do better for the community ABC,’ one person declared.
Its coverage did cut to Oxford Street itself at one point however when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ducked out of the parade for a quick interview on the ground.
ABC’s coverage of the parade was slammed on social media however for the public broadcasters odd choice of focusing on a panel of commentators instead of the event
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese marched in the parade for his third consecutive time
Teal MP Allegra Spender was among the parade attendees
Brands, organisations and other groups marched in unison or made their way down the street by float
For those fortunate enough to make the event a sea of fluorescent colour, glittering floats and eye-capturing costumes were on display throughout the hours-long parade.
A vast array of LGBTQI performers – some clad in minimal attire – marched to the beat of their own drum, personifying this year’s theme of ‘Free to Be’.
By tradition, Dykes on Bikes delivered a deafening first blast to the night’s soundtrack before several floats representing First Nations communities and the 78ers – trailblazing gay activists whose bold protest in 1978 sowed the seeds for Australia’s largest LGBTQI celebration.
Historians from South Australia, queer Queensland doctors and migrant communities representing Turkey, Japan and other nations highlighted just some of the 11,000 participants’ diversity, covering the entire LGBTQI spectrum.
William Weller slipped on a cut-back black and gold Julius Caesar costume and led 19 other ‘warriors’ from the northern NSW city of Tamworth to spotlight the regional queer community.
‘It’s about the visibility and just being able to show Tamworth has a pride community,’ he told AAP of Tamworth Pride’s third march.
‘We’ve been looking forward … to seeing the community tonight and just being ourselves.’
Emergency department specialist Bhushan Joshi and friends embraced fluro and ’80s vibes as the queer doctors and dentists’ group GLADD jived to a sunny remix of Olivia Newtown John’s Get Physical.
‘We want to challenge the shame and guilt that the queer community sometimes feels towards their body or keeping fit,’ the emergency consultant told AAP.
Rainbow meanwhile took a dark twist to her float’s circus theme and painted themselves scaly green to morph into Medusa the Seducer.
‘The headpiece took days to make,’ she said.
Some opted for the safety of rainbow-splashed corporate logos while others boldly flaunted buttocks and chests for an adoring crowd.
Underscoring the parade’s political undercurrent, hundreds in the parade adopted a second unofficial theme, holding signs demanding trans kids be protected.
Mr Albanese marched for the third time as prime minister while Deputy Premier Prue Car and Lord Mayor Clover Moore was among several state ministers joining public servants in NSW government floats.
Mardi Gras was a celebration of how far the community had come while sadly marking an uptick in verbal abuse, threats of violence and assaults, Equality Australia said.
‘It’s a reminder that for many people in our communities, particularly trans people, such targeted acts of hate are a year-round occurrence and that despite our gains we are still fighting for equal rights and protections in the law,’ chief executive Anna Brown said.
Members of Free, Gay and Happy performed the Time Warp in line with their Rocky Horror Picture Show themed float.
The group was founded by Teresa Leggett after she supported her former husband Michael to come out.
‘He thought it would be better to be dead than gay,’ she said, ‘so I took him to his first Mardi Gras to show him how amazing the gay community was.’
Being part of the parade was surreal, Ms Leggett said.
‘It’s a sound you’ve never heard before, 250,000 people at that very moment wish they were you,’ she said.
The party won’t end with the last float with crowds expected to dance through the night across Sydney’s rainbow pubs.
The most sought-after ticket? The eight-hour Mardi Gras Party rave at Moore Park, where more than 10,000 are expected to party to dawn.
Earlier in the evening a bedazzling band of floats and dancers waited in the wings ready to snake their way into Australia’s grandest celebration of queer culture.
Mardi Gras participants and a crowd of thousands decked in splashes of florescent pink and yellow began the filling parade route in Sydney’s queer-capital of Darlinghurst hours before the night was set to kick off.
‘I’ve been coming since I was 17 … seeing the community gather throughout the evening is enjoyable on its own,’ Jed Piasevoli told AAP from his street-side camping chair.
‘It’s a night to embrace all of the queer energy,’ mate Timothy Trisic told AAP.
‘It’s a chance to let loose and be ourselves for at least one night.
They were treated to a four-hour parade with 11,000 marchers.
One group marching to another Newtown John hit – Xanadu – was the Peacock Mormons, a group founded by Brad Harker and husband Scott in 2018 to protest against policies enforced by church leadership.
About half of the group’s 100 members are from religious backgrounds, including formerly devout Catholic and straight-living Brian Dunne.
He came out aged 65 after a cancer diagnosis and, nine years on, enjoys the full support of his former wife, five children and 13 grandchildren.
‘To me, that’s more of a Christian attitude than unfortunately what some church people have towards LGBTQIA+ people,’ Mr Dunne said.
The duo worked to reinforce this year’s theme to young LGBTQI people through simple actions such as holding hands on the street.
Mardi Gras was a celebration of how far the community had come while sadly marking an uptick in verbal abuse, threats of violence and assaults, Equality Australia said.
‘It’s a reminder that for many people in our communities, particularly trans people, such targeted acts of hate are a year-round occurrence and that despite our gains we are still fighting for equal rights and protections in the law,’ chief executive Anna Brown said.
