McCrossin returns for Mardi Gras party
- Published by David Knox
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Julie McCrossin will be on the lead float at the front of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade tonight, as one of the original “78ers,” -a name given to the original protesters who marched down Oxford Street thirty years ago.
McCrossin, whose media work has included Good News Week and ABC Radio National, was part of the 1978 protest for gay rights, which led to what has since become the world’s biggest gay parade.
The 30th anniversary of that event tonight will be led by the 78ers, in recognition of their action. For McCrossin, it will be a night to remember, marching with her family down the same street where police violence interrupted their original protest.
She told TV Tonight, “I’ll be marching with my partner Melissa and my step daughter Amelia. We have achieved a degree of equality and authentic acceptance that we couldn’t have imagined was possible back in 1978.
“In 1978 homosexuality was bad, mad and evil. Since 1978 we’ve won decriminalisation and the psychiatrists of the world took us out of their diagnostic manual,” she said.
Tonight’s parade will feature over 9000 participants and 150 floats, and is expected to be the parade’s biggest. It concludes with an after-party at the Showgrounds for more than 15,000 people.
Also appearing in the parade is Queer Eye fashion guru, Carson Kressley.
But this year there is no broadcast of the parade, although there are a handful of television programmes scheduled to mark the occasion on SBS, ABC and Foxtel.
For McCrossin, who has also been an on-the-ground presenter of the parade for Network TEN, it will be an emotion-charged evening, but even thirty years on there are still battles to be won.
“We are still fighting for a welcome in the churches, mosques and synagogues but even there we have many supporters.”
“Today is a very happy day,” she said.
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4 Responses
It wouldn’t be the first time a movement became commercial to cover costs and keep it alive.
As far as I know, the main reason the Mardi Gras Parade is not broadcast any more is because New Mardi Gras (the organisers) have refused to sell the TV rights.
They claim to do so would be making the parade “too commercial” – but would at least help to cover the costs of an event which has been coming in at a loss in recent years.
It’s a shame, but the parade HAS become too commercial – with floats featuring ads and several non-gay groups permitted to march (eg the Raelians) so long as they pay their entry fees. It has lost all meaning now.
So after 30 years how much better off is the Gay and Lesbian movement? When networks refuse to cover one of the largest social events on the calendar, something doesn’t seem right. Or do they think that by not televising the event, they are not spreading that nasty Gay and Lesbian germ…Hmmm!
It’s really sad that we won’t have any telecast of the parade. C’mon Foxtel, at least you should try pay-per-view as in the past. Surely, it’s not more expensive to set it up than some of the Main Event crap you’re offering.