Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Australia, 1996 | It began on June 24, 1978 as a protest march and commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. Although the organizers had obtained permission, this was revoked, and the march was broken up by the police. Many of the marchers were arrested. Although most charges were eventually dropped, the Sydney Morning Herald published the names of those arrested in full, leading to many people being outed to their friends and places of employment, and many of those arrested lost their jobs as homosexuality was a crime in New South Wales until 1982.
The event was held again in 1979, with the name changed to the "Sydney Gay Mardi Gras". In 1980 the first post-parade dance party was introduced, and in 1981 the parade was shifted to February. An increasingly large number of people not only participated in the event, but larger numbers of the wider community turned out to watch the parade. In 1988 the parade was renamed the "Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras", and is today one of the largest tourist attractions in Australia.
© Arne Walderhaug