2025 Mardi Gras Board Announced
Image: Mardi Gras Parade. Image: Ann Marie Calihanna
The members of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board were announced on Monday night, after a heated AGM on Saturday.
Pride in Protest’s Damien Nguyen came out on top, capturing almost a third of the first-preference votes for board direct-elect.
Rainbow Labor’s Mits Delisle came in behind Nguyen with 289 first-preference votes.
Brad Booth and Brandon Bear round out the newly elected members, with incumbent board director and current co-chair Bear being re-elected.
They will join current directors Louis Hudson, Kyriakos Gold, Kathy Pavlich, and Luc Velez.
Pride in Protest’s second candidate, Quay Quay Quade narrowly missed out on a position on the board, and was the last candidate eliminated from the count, coming fifth after preference distributions.
“We’ve come closer than ever to electing two candidates this year,” Quade said. “I’m proud of all the wins we have gotten, from passing endorsement for our campaign demanding freedom for transgender women in detention by a huge margin to securing support to queers in Western Sydney and rural NSW.”
Nguyen joins fellow Pride in Protest member, Luc Velez, who was elected in 2023.
“I’m excited to continue the fight for our community alongside Luc Velez, knowing we’re backed by hundreds of activists,” Nguyen told Star Observer. “The over 400 votes for Pride in Protest candidates are votes for opposing pink-washing, for cops out of Mardi Gras, for reclaiming pride, and for divestment from genocide.”
“My main focus will be delivering on the platforms that got me elected, a community-led Mardi Gras that stands up for queer rights, for sex workers’ rights and opposes racism and Police violence.”
Debate over Police at Mardi Gras not going away
Three motions to ban the Police from marching in the Mardi Gras parade were discussed at the AGM, attracting a significant amount of attention from mainstream media.
The motion to ban the NSW Police Force from the 2025 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade failed with 459 votes for, 493 against, and 26 abstentions. Only 34 votes separated the two parties.
Pride in Protest proposed a motion to fully ban the NSW Police force from Mardi Gras which also failed, with 425 for, 522 against, and 2 abstentions.
Nguyen says it’s not an issue of if Police will be removed from the parade, but when.
“At the AGM, the Police were saved only by an intervention from the NSW Labor Government and key Federal Labor Members, who campaigned in the media and had Ministers sign up as Mardi Gras members to suppress community consultations outcomes.”
