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Neighbours to march in Mardi Gras

Producers partner with Gay & Lesbian festival with a float to celebrate the wedding of Aaron & David.

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Cast & crew of Neighbours will appear on a float in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in a move that further strengthens their on-screen support for same sex marriage and diversity.

Producers Fremantle have partnered with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for Neighbours for the annual Parade and Fair Day. They will also film scenes during festivities for an upcoming episode.

The float will celebrate the marriage of Aaron (Matt Wilson) and David (Takaya Honda) who made history with the first same-sex marriage for an Australian drama following the change to the Marriage Act.

Chris Oliver-Taylor, CEO Asia Pacific, Fremantle, says: “This is such an important moment for Fremantle and Neighbours. We are elated to be a partner of Mardi Gras and to proudly share our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusiveness. We’re humbled by the opportunity to celebrate with the LGBTQI community.”

Terese Casu, CEO, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, says: “We’re absolutely thrilled to see LGBTQI representation on one of Australia’s most iconic TV shows, Neighbours. It’s so important that our community are able to see themselves in popular culture, and we’re looking forward of course to seeing the Mardi Gras Parade become a part of the Neighbours cannon.”

Jason Herbison, Executive Producer, Neighbours, says: “Everyone is welcome on Ramsay Street. We can’t wait to stand among our brothers and sisters at Mardi Gras and share our commitment to equality. Television is powerful and we’ll also be filming a storyline around the parade. Love is love and it’s here to stay on Neighbours.”

Neighbours introduced the first regular gay character to Ramsay Street in 2011 and have maintained diversity in the regular cast ever since, currently with three core characters from the LGBTQI community.

At Fremantle we take the responsibility of our stories reaching millions around the world very seriously. We are working hard to create storylines and characters that reflect the diversity of Australia and spark conversation about important social issues.

Fremantle is the place that creatives call home – regardless of who they are or where they come from. We know that great ideas and bold thinking can come from anywhere and anyone and we know that a diverse and representative workforce is crucial in enabling us to create irresistible entertainment for everyone. We firmly believe that this sort of creative magic flows best when diverse people work together in an inclusive environment.

For over 40 years, Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras have provided a creative platform for the community to celebrate its achievements and bring global attention to social justice issues. The 2019 Mardi Gras ‘Fearless’ Festival will runs from February 15 – March 3, with the Parade taking place March 2.

6.30pm weeknights on 10 Peach.

14 Responses

    2. Not that is should matter, but they are straight. Just like there happens to be gay cast playing straight characters. They are actors, it’s their jobs. I know you haven’t stated it, but its not fair to ask only gay actors should play gay characters as it would have to work both ways then if that was the case.

      1. Just seems strange that the show has 2 straight actors playing gay characters appearing in a gay parade pretending to be gay. Seems sort of false to me. Because I’m sure there would be people in the crowd or watching on tv that believe the actors to be gay.

        2. With that logic, only convicted murderers should be able to play such roles on film and TV for the sake of “authenticity”. Acting, by design, is inherently “false”.

        3. So straight play straight and gay play gay. Bit discriminatory. Sexuality shouldn’t matter. You think everyone at the parade are LGBT? They most certainly not. Its about support and inclusions.
          Imagine telling a gay actor, sorry you can’t play this part, he’s a straight father of 3. Imagine the interview process trying to cast a bisexual…. On that note…. chloe

        4. Why would they be pretending to be gay on the float? That’s a really ignorant comment. They will be appearing as Neighbours actors supporting the LGBTQI community. Anyone who knows the show well probably knows the actors are straight but if they don’t know, who cares. As a gay man i have no issue whatsoever with them being in the parade.

  2. Yes, Neighbours has been infinitely more bolder than H&A in its portrayal of lgbti stories and characters. Interestingly though, the Neighbours opening which shows all the regular characters, including married couples as couples, still shows David and Aaron separately, months after their wedding.

    1. To be fair they have other couples divided too for the sake of having the siblings grouped together (Tanakas, Brennans, Elly & Bea). I’m sure it’ll all change eventually.

      1. And the couplings keep changing on a soapie, it would be impossible to keep filming new opening credits every time that happened. They do a good enough job taking cast members out when they leave and putting new cast members in when they arrive.

          1. They were last changed completely in May last year and since then, they’ve inserted newly filmed combinations (when Ned re-joined the cast and then when Cassius left). They’ve also done a great job of digitally erasing some characters from the titles (e.g. Steph, Paige, Mishti and, more recently, Xanthe). My guess is that if Elly and Mark make it to the alter, they’ll appear together in the next revamp, David and Aaron will also appear together and, of course, they’ll need to do a new configuration to accommodate for the upcoming departure of another character (as hinted in the 2019 previews – no spoilers here!).

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