Driving off the Sydney harbour bridge today, near the eastern pylon, is this portable, sign advertising MARDI GRAS ... tomorrow March 1 is the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade - celebrating 30 years. It used to be the most fabulous event. Now ... people from all over, sans kids, troop into the heart of Sydney, loaded up with a picnic, thermos's of tea, coffee, bourbon or the bev of choice, to gawk at the parade!
Sadly the parade's lost the political statement it was originally begun for.
Do people line up to see a parade or to gawk at the poofs - why doesn't someone tell them it's not a freak show?
2 Comments:
Good take on the photohunt theme. That is a shame that something which was started for empowerment and to promote pride in people being who they are has become something over run by gawkers. It's great when all people can stand together in solidarity (all genders and orientations) but for people to go just to gawk is beyond me. I hope you have a good weekend.
OK I am of two minds about this one, and I really don't know which is "right" or "wrong." And being hetero, I'm sure I'm missing a beat or two. But as a mother of gay kids, I can try. When my kids came out, I was concerned about parades like this: that they would be targeted, etc. But lately I've been viewing them as nicer Mardi Gras parties, which are awful. But freakishness stays on the fringe of society. So I don't know if the parades are detrimental or not. If the gay community felt they were, I would think they would stop them? Perhaps not. It's a dilemma for me.
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