Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year again. It’s been referred to as “gay christmas”, that special night on which the queens come forth and have their rule over Oxford Street noticed. They frolic up and down, half naked, making out with anything that moves, they rev their motorbikes as they roar along, they make obscure political comments. It’s Mardi Gras this coming Saturday night, and this year, I’m making a stand.
What the fuck is he on about, you might well wonder. Well, this:
and this:
and this:
Now, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy partying. I find men sexy. And, as for standing up for rights, I’m right there. But, I will not be supporting Mardi Gras this year.
On June 24, 1969, a group of gay and transgendered people in New York rebelled against the oppressive police force. This small event was called The Stonewall Riots, and was the first step in the long process in the search for equality and the end of discrimination against the GLBTI… etc., or simply queer community.
In 1978, on the 9th anniversary of these riots, a protest march was held in Sydney to commemorate the events and the plight of the queer community in Australia. Homosexuality was illegal in NSW until 1984. In 1979, the event was held again, and was referred to as the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras. These events were far more solemn occasions, heavy with significance, and worked towards making a point.
I have only been twice to Mardi Gras before, the parade in 2006 and then the after party in 2007. The sight of hundreds of half-naked men and women dancing down the street in 2006, poking fun at Dick Cheney’s mis-firing gun, and Kate Moss’ drug-taking, whilst Molly Meldrum also frolicked his way up town, and I wondered what the point of Mardi Gras was. I took little notice of it at the time, though, mostly as I was with someone (who later that night, over coffee, told me he was told not to date me. Yeah, good times), and everyone was having this great time dancing.
Last year, a 21st kept me from the parade, but a male acquaintance (who referred to me as his bf), dragged me off to the after party, filled will high and drunk men (including this acquaintance) gyrating in a hot Hordern to the vibes of Boy George. This male acquaintance, however, complained about the heat inside, and the night had me paying $100 to lie on the grass outside because that is all he wanted to do. Nonetheless, the scene was reminiscent of perhaps a NYE party (or Arq on a regular night), and seemed hardly fitting. Then again, I was so tangled up in my own affairs I didn’t think about it.
This year, an opportunity was placed before me, and several friends were insistent that I go on the Cross-Campus Student Float. As “Children of the Revolution”, we would be thrust forth before the flocking thousands, celebrating being gay in a world that is still oppressive and doesn’t afford same-sex relationships equal weighting.
This brings me, then, to my point. Why am I making a stand? Three reasons:
- Because Mardi Gras has forgotten why it began. Most people won’t agree with me, I know that. People argue that it is still a key part of the year, it is still politically relevant, that the community takes notice. I say that this has stopped becoming a protest against the plight of the queer community, and has rather just become an excuse to get drunk and/or high in the street. The powers that be don’t look at the Mardi Gras parade and go “Oh, you know, they want to get married, let’s let them do it”. The community-at-large doesn’t know that Stonewall is more than a bar on Oxford Street. Hundred have died, from discrimination, from bashing, from AIDS, and people are dancing in the street!
- Because Mardi Gras doesn’t affect the right people. My father is a classic Liberal voter. Big-L Liberal. Voted for the Liberal Party at the last election, and was very displeased that Rudd won. He is the sort of person the message of the Mardi Gras should be targeted at: “We are people too”. However, he refers to it as “that poofta parade”, and wouldn’t pay it heed if he mistakenly turned down Oxford Street next Saturday night. Why isn’t the message reaching these people? Because, they see it as a gay dance down the centre of town, not as a political statement. Yes, there are those people who go and support it. These are people who would be there to support the queer community regardless.
- Because Mardi Gras is filled with everything that is wrong with the gay community. I hate Stonewall, the bar on Oxford Street, because it is filled with pretentious drunk gits. In Arq, you pay through the nose to be surrounded by pretentious high gits. At Mardi Gras, those pretentious gits flood the streets. They display promiscuity, muscular bodies, and well-tanned and oiled skin, or their leather harnesses, hairy bear chests, and bondage fetish. Where are the regular people? Or is this the gay world? We are filling the stereotype in this parade, displaying the queer communuty as being exactly what the less learned think it is, rather than showing that anyone can be gay. It’s an image I don’t want to associate with.
So, yes. As I say, most people will try to correct me, prove it is politically relevant. But, until such time that I can be convinced otherwise, I’m going to stick to avoiding Mardi Gras.
