Blog Entry: The Sydney Mardi Gras

The Sydney Mardi Gras Fabulous. Fierce.

There aren't really enough camp superlatives to sum up the pride and joy of Sydney's LGBT community. It's electric - I've really never seen anything like it.

A whole different kind of pride - one I felt personally to see such an explosive celebration of diversity, liberation and solidarity. The atmosphere was communal, a perfect reflection of the festival's theme - Nations United.

So Oxford St, the beating heart of the Queer community, was shut down, and spectators lined the streets and filled the buildings and bars. Rainbow flags flying everywhere.

First up, the dykes on bikes - a Mardi Gras tradition. At least (by my count) one thousand lady-lovin ladies on bikes, roaring up the strip to the cheers of the crowd. Then the floats and marches.

Everything, from lifesavers, police and firemen with pride, to potshots at society's foolish (a giant float proclaiming "F@#K HOMOPHOBIC RELIGIONS!") to fabulously choreographed marches from many LGBT organisations and groups.

The drag queens were beautiful, bears were out in force, the leather lovers were cracking the whip (quite literally, one man's back was red-raw as he rode, chained, on one float) and the ladyboys were skinny and hairless. Plus, obscenely high heels, feathers of all shades and SEQUINS.

Many floats took a hilarious route to the hearts of onlookers, like the satire on the mega-church Hillsong, known as Surry Hillsong, whose slogan was 'sunday is for recovery'. (Surry Hills is a hot inner-city suburb populated by many a gay). Or there was the Taronga Zoo Tasmanian Devil conservation foundation, which sported a giant devil, dancing to Kylie's 'Better the Devil You Know'. If that's not how you make something gay-appealing, then I don't know what is.

Did I mention it was fabulous? If only I'd had my camera on hand, I could have showcased some of the eye-popping colour. Ten thousand people in the parade, and three hundred thousand watching.

Thank God I live in a gay city.