the Mardi Gras parade

[Anonymous]

Hey girls, look for me on my black Triumph in the orange section up front with Dykes on Bikes.
Orange section is the second lot of bikes and will have orange cellophane stuff over the headlights.
Short blonde hair now not long brunette.
See mee there.
8D

[Anonymous]

Hi Girls
For all of us who cant be there, do you know if it will be televised so we can sit quietly at home and rage with jealousy. 😆

[Anonymous]

As I have been told, apparently Mardi Gras organisers got greedy and now wont be televised. Yooool have to be there.
8D

[Adrian]

That just about summarises everything – Mardi Gras got greedy.
Well actually it went bust a few years back and the new management is probably trying to avoid a repeat.

But although I agree with Penny that it is a big event for “A Community” – it isn’t a big event for any community I feel part of.

So I won’t be doing anything personally on Saturday unless any gay friends of mine drag me out.
Because that is the crux of the issue – it is a beautiful celebration of our right to express our sexuality in any way we like.
It is a celebration by the gay community, and I’m not part of that celebration – because I’m not part of that community.

This topic has been discussed in the forums : http://forum.tgr.net.au/cms/forum/F319/1980-980 – but resulted in one of the worst threads of personal abuse in TgR’s history (the thread is now tidied up a bit!). So I don’t want to go there again in a hurry…..
…but…. I still think it is a big mistake including T in the GBTQI label for the Mardi Gras.
It confuses the heck out of the public and just makes it harder for us to explain gender to them.

OK that’s a bit serious…..

So, of course if your sexuality falls under the MardiGras umbrella – don’t miss the chance to get out there on the streets. Enjoy and be proud!

Nice to see “A community” presenting such a positive public image.

[Anonymous]

For those:

* Not in Sydney

* In Sydney but not wanting to go

* In Sydney but unable to go

* In Sydney but want to avoid throngs of voyeuristic hetero people wanting to oggle

* In Sydney but wanting to avoid groups of drunken people looking to vent their homophobic and transphobic (it’s all the same to some) attitudes

* In Sydney but do not feel the gay movement and Mardi Gras resonates with their culture and values but nevertheless want to see what it’s all about

* Would love to go enjoy the exclusive members’ admission to Taxi Club on Mardi Gras night but don’t want to battle through any of the thorngs and groups mentioned above

but want to watch the parade (and it will only be through the “eyes”of the video camera people filtered through the editors’ discretion moderated by ratings and maximising the economic opportunity (it’s the way of the world, unfortunately)), then tune into

http://mardigrastv.org.au/

For details, see: http://www.samesame.com.au/news/local/8049/Dont-miss-the-Parade-Catch-it-on-Mardi-Gras-TV.htm

Personally, I think any protest and civic display against the shameful way society treats minorities, is always welcome. Isn’t that what Mardi Gras is about, not an excuse to party? As to where T fits in with GLBTIQ, well, how do you think the Q and the I feel? But is that a reason to not stand together?

Unity through diversity. We support them and they support us. We have common battles. Divided we fall.

OK that’s a bit serious…..

For those attending or watching in person – have a great time. The party is sensational (apart from the throngs and groups, but enjoy Kylie)!

[Anonymous]

This topic has always been a catalyst for deep discussion.

My personal thoughts on Mardi Gras parade and the T in GLBTIQ…

Mardi Gras still hangs onto what it was about, rights and recognition. Yep, now very commercial with every man and his dog wanting to promote themselves in it. It is the biggest single people drawing event in the country, where people’s attention in focussed in the one area, so I suppose from their perspective if they can use it, they will.

It has, and looks like always will be, generally referred to as the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. That’s the Mardi Gras committee not putting enough emphasis on the other letters of the alphabet. The media just generalising as they would always do doesn’t help.

Though there is very little that ties us T’s into the abbreviated GLBTIQ community, Mardi Gras is also about celebrating diversity. That one we all fit under.

I have found, personally, that majority of gay folk just don’t get us. As a result, on mass, the official linking and involvement between G and T folk is minimal. That’s just that the way it is. I suppose one can’t really expect that 2 minority groups would be that ‘united’. Look at the T community itself, there are a number of factional groups within it that just seem to not relate to the other. I have experienced first hand just how lacking the interest is between each segment of the GLBTIQ folk. I refer to my involvement with the Taxi Club, which officially changed it’s constitution and registration to a GLBTIQ Club. As a means of better identifying with it’s diversity and to seek more supportive interest from the community at large. It appears to have not meant a thing to the bulk of the community, the bulk being the G’s. Seems to have gone the opposite for the T’s also.

For me personally, I look forward to the Mardi Gras weekend as it is a celebration. It does celebrate our freedom (though limited it’s getting more and more). On the night, the general feeling amongst the G’s L’s B’s T’s I’s and Q’s is that we are one and it’s all about us.

And, just as important, you get to wear something you wouldn’t normally wear out of home lol.

[Anonymous]

I will be out and about on MG night with my friend Sally. Hope to bump into some of you girls along the way.
You’ll more than likely find me around the Taxi Club.