78ers will finally be told sorry by the NSW Parliament
Image: A group of 78ers walk across the former rainbow crossing at Taylor Square in 2013. (Photo: Steve McLaren)
IT has been a long time coming but the men and women who started Sydney’s Mardi Gras — the 78ers — will finally receive an apology from the NSW government for the ill treatment they received during the city’s first Mardi Gras.
Coogee state Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith will introduce the 78ers motion of apology to the NSW Legislative Assembly on Thursday. The motion is also expected to be introduced to the NSW Legislative Council at a later time by the Deputy President, upper house Nationals MP Trevor Khan.
More than 500 people descended on Taylor Square in Darlinghurst on June 24 in 1978 in solidarity with New York’s Stonewall movement and to also call for the end of the criminalisation of homosexual acts, discrimination against homosexuals and for a public celebration of love and diversity.
Police arrested and mistreated many of the 78ers, many of whom were thrown in jail or were attacked.
The apology, which has been crafted with direct input from the 78ers and has multi-partisan support, will acknowledge the abuse and suffering many of the 78ers endured and reflects the NSW Parliament’s determination to ensure discrimination and mistreatment of the LGBTQI community never happens again.
The upsurge of activism following the first Mardi Gras led to the 1979 repeal of the Summary Offences Act, decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1984 and contributed to an effective community response to the HIV epidemic.
“On February 25 we will acknowledge the significance of the events of that night in June 38 years ago; the struggles and harm caused to the many who took part in the demonstration and march, both on that night and in the weeks, months and years to follow. Many 78ers are no-longer with us; many have lived a life of hurt and pain, and many took their own lives. This apology is for all of them,” Mr Notley-Smith said.
Upper house Labor MP Penny Sharpe, Shadow Minister for the Planning, Environment & Heritage, said: “This apology has been a long time coming and is well past due. With Parliament’s support, we will recognise the courageous people who refused to accept discrimination and literally put their bodies on the line in the struggle for equality.”
“The tenacity of the 78ers paved the way for three decades of law reform. It will be an important moment in the history of NSW to see recognition of their contribution and an apology for the treatment they received for standing up for what is right.”
Members of the public are encouraged to attend the 78ers Apology at NSW Legislative Assembly on Thursday February 25 from 10am in the public gallery.
It is not known at this time if the NSW police will also issue an apology to the 78ers.
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I am a 78er and if heatwave weather conditions on Thursday, my health and transport permit – I will attend NSW parliament to hear this apology. I want to stay angry as it is such a source of energy but I will probably cry as well because so many have not made it to this day to hear this. I am also interested in tangible proof the apology is sincere – like the almost entire working life my partner and I were refused classification as a couple or family – resulting in almost a lifetime of prejudicial additional taxation at the single rate. The insecure superannuation system that for most of our working lives did not permit us to leave each other our super benefits as a spouse. If we owned a house together being forced to pay full Stamp Duty in the event a relationship ended. The financial penalties imposed by the state for not being straight continue to have massive financial repercussions for many of us in our old age – for those of us fortunate enough to have an old age. Too many were lost to the other scourges that accompany social vilification.
I sincerely hope that what happens in State Parliament this Thursday will place pressure on the The Sydney Morning Herald. Why? Because the SMH published the names, addresses and occupations of the 53 people arrested at the first Mardi Gras. People lost their jobs, they were kicked out of their homes, and they were comprehensively outed with none of the legal protections we enjoy today.
Over to you, SMH.
Long Overdue!
Next issue for the NSW parliament is finally outlawing conversion therapy and establishing a NSW Royal Commission into the 80s and 90s gay bashings in NSW!
Hopefully in the future the inner city queens of today will apologise to the rest of us for the discrimination, exclusion and hate we suffer at their hands. We are all ultimately judged on how you treat others, not where u live, what clothes u wear or your commodified lifestyle.