Twenty years after Sydney’s first Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras took place, NSW police marched alongside the many gay and lesbian protesters they had arrested in Sydney streets.
In a symbolic gesture of respect and support in 1998, they marched alongside the 78ers, the first to take to the Sydney streets in a show of gay pride in 1978.
Lifesavers with Pride complete a final dress rehearsal on Bondi Beach before Mardi Gras.
Photo: Christopher PearceNow, 40 years on, after same-sex marriage has become law and so many bastions of maschismo and misogyny have been conquered, it’s hard to find a community group that does not support participants in the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras which will take place on Saturday.
This year, 80 red and yellow capped, budgie smuggler or bikini clad lifesavers from surf clubs around Australia will march in support of acceptance and inclusion within the surf club movement.
Australia’s marching gay and lesbian lifesavers, the Lifesavers with Pride (LWP), celebrate 12 years of appearing at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
They join representatives from rugby league, who have been marching for 15 years, since 2003 when the Chief of Parade was Ian Roberts, the first high-profile Australian sportsperson and first rugby league player in the world to come out as gay.
The Lifesavers with Pride celebrate 12 years of appearing at Mardi Gras.
Photo: Christopher PearceIn 2013, the armed forces marched in uniform at the parade for the first time, in recognition of the service of LGBTQI personnel.
Lifesaving – long the symbol of the ‘‘bronzed Aussie male’’ – started in Australia in 1907 on Sydney’s beaches after laws prohibiting daytime bathing were removed. These clubs then spread to the whole nation.
‘‘Lifesaving has evolved dramatically since it began in 1907. From the outfits and techniques, to the technology and diversity, the progression has been extensive,’’ says Gary Driscoll, LWP Chair.
Since LWP started in 2007, Surf Life Saving has attracted increasing numbers of gay and lesbian men and women to join its ranks, and has undertaken a new approach to diversity.
Back in 2007 LWP needed to bring in friends and non lifesavers to fill numbers, reaching 60.
The following year all marchers were lifesavers, totalling 100. This year, 2018, the LWP full quota was filled in 48 hours when registrations opened last October.
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