A tribute to our history, from protest to parade

The Pride History Group has published its definitive guide to the early years of Mardi Gras, New Day Dawning. Written by Gavin Harris, in conjunction with Ken Davis and John Witte, the compact book chronicles the origins and rise of Mardi Gras from activist protest in 1978 to well-oiled organisation by 1985.
Started by Harris in 1991 as a thesis, the information-packed book is designed to provide an authoritative guide to the first years of Mardi Gras.
Based on over 30 interviews from key stakeholders it outlines the elements which converged to make it happen, what made it successful and how it has continued to inspire new generations of queers to take to the streets, while also capturing the look of it all through a stunning range of archival photos.
There were a lot of black holes in the records so it seemed fairly important to have some sort of authoritative record based on interviews, that captured the scale of Mardi Gras -” the look of it, the dinkiness of it and the fact that it was contested all the time by different factions, Harris told Sydney Star Observer.
It was an interesting period, and there’s not that much that’s been written on it, Witte adds.
In fact we haven’t been able to find one photo from the original parade. It was an amazing period of social change for gays and all sorts of people. In the interviews, people kept saying how it was a really exciting period in their lives -” every day there would be a different meeting to go to with different people, and they could see things changing.
As for the politics of Mardi Gras though, the question of whether it’s become less political over the years is a question which has been present right from the start.
The core thing is that it’s about parading down the street and being as open as you want to be in a public space. The queens fought the police in ’78 to claim that space and each year that space is re-claimed and that’s the lasting heritage of ’78. It is a parading and coming out point particularly for young people and it’s always wonderful to see the next generation taking it up.
info: New Day Dawning will be available through specialist bookstores in the coming months or email enquiries@crossbooks.com.au to get a copy sent to you.