TV turns on Mardi Gras: ultimate guide

TV Networks are getting into the spirit of Mardi Gras this weekend, especially on SBS, but also with some content on TEN, ABC and MTV.

There are dramas, documentaries, movies, interviews and music (and that’s without even counting Looking, Glee, Ellen etc.)

The parade screens on SBS ONE on Sunday night hosted by Magda Szubanski, Tom Ballard & Patrick Abboud.

Here’s a run down of camp programming comin’ at ya:

THURSDAY MARCH 5

Studio 10 8:30am TEN
Ahead of the Mardi Gras celebrations in Sydney this weekend, Studio 10 will be hosting a forum on the issues facing our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community tomorrow morning at 8.30am. To share their opinions on what it’s like to be gay in modern Australia, Studio 10 has invited outstanding members of the LGBT community to be a part of the conversation. Tomorrow’s special guests include Lieutenant Colonel Catherine McGregor, the highest-ranking transgender officer in Australian Defence Force; Peter Fraser and Gordon Stevenson, the first gay couple to legally marry in Australia; Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s sister Christine Forster; and Senator Penny Wong. Almost 40 years on from the 1978 Oxford St protest, where more than 500 people gathered calling for an end to discrimination against homosexuals, our panel and guests will discuss how far Australia has really come in its treatment of the LGBT community.

The Feed 7:30pm SBS 2
The Feed sits down with Tony Abbott’s openly gay sister Christine Forster, and catches up with Magda Szubanski for a live chat.

The Out List 9:30pm SBS 2
High profile members of the LGBTQI community share the struggles and triumphs of being gay, understanding sexuality and gender and building careers after they’ve come out. The Out List stars a diverse cross-section of leaders from the entertainment, sports, business and public service, including Ellen DeGeneres, Cynthia Nixon, Neil Patrick Harris, Wanda Sykes and professional footballer Wade Davis, sharing their personal stories like never before.

Movie: Open Up To Me 10.40pm SBS ONE

FRIDAY MARCH 6

One Plus One 10am ABC / 8:30pm ABC News 24
This week’s guest on ONE PLUS ONE is the American actress, transgender activist and global LGBTI cultural icon, Calpernia Addams. She’s in Australia as a guest of Gender Trailblazers, which is part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival currently taking place that culminates in the world famous parade on Saturday, 7 March. In a moving interview with ONE PLUS ONE host Jane Hutcheon, Addams talks about her upbringing in Nashville. She was born male in the early 1970’s, but from a young age felt hatred for the body she was born into. Her father was a minister in a Southern fundamentalist church and her mother was the piano player. Although they loved their son, “they didn’t know how to deal with issues like mine (and) expressing myself resulted in punishment,” she tells Hutcheon. Following a soldiering career which included the First Gulf War, Calpernia Addams began her journey to become a transgender woman. She found love, but it was short-lived. Her lover Barry Winchell was beaten to death in 1999 while asleep in a military barracks. He had been mocked for months, because of his relationship with a transgender woman. Addams played an important role building the case to end the US military’s controversial “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy (1993-2011) in which gay US servicemen and women could remain in the military if they didn’t openly declare their sexual orientation. In the aftermath of Barry’s death, she has carved out a successful career in Hollywood as an actress and a consultant, spokesperson and activist on transgender rights and issues. She has notably worked with Felicity Huffman (Trans America) and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) to prepare for their respective Oscar-nominated roles, with Leto personally thanking her in his Oscar speech. She discusses what it means to feel normal. “Normal would be having all those fears and anxieties of being less than or rejected… having those things fade away so I can have an equal starting point to everyone else,” she says. “I love being at a point in my life where I can wash off all this make-up, go out and be treated like everyone else. That’s a gift.”

Movie: Appropriate Behaviour 8.30pm SBS ONE

Movie: Geography Club 10.05pm SBS ONE

SATURDAY MARCH 7

The Case Against 8 10:40pm SBS ONE
This riveting documentary is an inside look at the events that led up to, and the aftermath of the groundbreaking Supreme Court case which overturned California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8.

SUNDAY MARCH 8

The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade 8:30pm SBS ONE
Hosted by Magda Szubanski, Tom Ballard & Patrick Abboud. The street parade is the spectacular sequinned centrepiece bringing to a close the three-week long calendar of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festivities and events. Hundreds of thousands of spectators from all over the world bring Sydney to a standstill as they party alongside the street parade of 10,000 people. Decorated floats, pumping tunes, glitter, banners, elaborate costumes and dancers wind their way through Oxford and Flinders streets in the heart of Sydney’s CBD, creating an outrageous river of colour.

MONDAY MARCH 9

Cucumber 11pm SBS ONE
SBS serves up a threesome of new queer series from acclaimed UK writer/director Russell T Davies (Queer as Folk) exploring the passions and pitfalls of 21st century gay life. Premiering on Australian television are Cucumber and Banana; two original eight-part, comedy/drama series. Cucumber follows 46-year-old Henry and his long-term boyfriend Lance in the aftermath of ‘the worst date night in history.’

TUESDAY MARCH 10

Dateline 9:30pm SBS ONE
SBS Dateline asks what is it like to be transgender in Indonesia – one of the largest Muslim communities in the world with a special report by David O’Shea.

FRIDAY MARCH 13

Banana 10:20pm SBS 2
Banana is an outrageous and intriguing peek into the lives of Cucumber’s younger characters as they wade through sexuality and relationships as gay, lesbian, transgender or anything in between.

SBS ONLINE

www.sbs.com.au/mardigras
The SBS Online Mardi Gras hub is the ultimate web destination for all things Mardi Gras. The website, along with SBS On Demand, will host a stream of the parade broadcast on Sunday March 8 from 8.30pm. SBS Online also has a Mardi Gras Movie Collection with over twenty titles, is the place to catch-up on all the queer films, special reports, documentaries and series airing on TV during the season, as well as web features including a look at what coming out is like in ethnic families and SBS’s own journey to the float.

Tofu
An 8-part factual web series exclusively available on SBS On Demand in March. Fronted by Youtube star Benjamin Cook and also developed by Russell T Davies, Tofu explores modern sex in all its variety through interviews with ordinary members of the public detailing their sexcapades, with sketch comedy, music, animation and a touch of fantasy.

MTV (until March 8)

Resident VJ’s Krit and Kate Peck will be making way for Mardi Gras global ambassador Courtney Act and international drag queen and comic Bianca Del Rio, as hosts and ‘VGays.’ It will feature guest-hosted shows with Kiesza, David Guetta, Armin Van Buuren, Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne plus music programming, including: Mardi Gras Anthems Top 100, Girl Groups VS Boy Bands, Sexiest Stars Of Pop, Style Icons and Kings VS Queens of Pop, in addition to the SameSame Top 30 as voted by fans and live concert performances from Charli XCX, Chic, Scissor Sisters and more.

PLUS….

SBS Radio & JOY
SBS Radio is joining forces with Melbourne LGBTIQ community radio station JOY 94.9 for a Mardi Gras weekend take over, including a live broadcast of the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. JOY 94.9 will take over digital station, SBS Radio 3 from 9.00pm Friday 6 March until 9.00pm Sunday 8 March , including 4 hours of live parade commentary, from 7pm Saturday 8 March.

360 Degree Virtual Reality
This year, in a network first, SBS Online is offering all Australians the opportunity to experience the glitz and glamour of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras like never before. Utilising 360-degree virtual reality technology, viewers will feel instantly transported to the centre of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade where they can experience all the sights and sounds from all the best vantage points, witnessing the parade first-hand as it unfolds. In partnership with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Google and Pixelcase, SBS will also distribute Google Cardboard viewers to communities across the nation throughout March in an effort to bring the parade to as many people as possible, further cementing SBS’ commitment of inclusion and diversity to all Australians through groundbreaking, cutting-edge technology. For more information, and for your chance to receive a Google Cardboard viewer, visit here.