Mardi Gras’ circle of love
Mardi Gras today launched a new name, logo and community-wide proposition aimed at reinvigorating the 33-year-old event and present it as a city-wide celebration of the power and the beauty of diversity.
In a parallel move, the organisation has changed its name back to Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras after almost 10 years as New Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras chairman Pete Urmson said the move to the old moniker is in recognition that the event and brand remains owned by the city’s gay and lesbian community as it endeavours to broaden its appeal.
“The Sydney Mardi Gras will always have its thumping gay heart that celebrates the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer communities, but Mardi Gras is now inviting those who share our positive message about the power and beauty of diversity to be part of our celebration,” Urmson said.
“We would love to see people who share our values, but who never thought they would be in the Parade, to approach us and share their ideas. There will always be room for a great float which will both entertain and bring people together.
“Our hope with this change is to turn Sydney Mardi Gras into an even bigger civic event – right up there with Rio and the world’s other great carnivals – to be enjoyed by everyone, but always remembered as being a gift to the city from its gay and lesbian community and a demonstration of our pride.”
As well as a return to the old name, the organisation has also launched a new season logo developed in conjunction with partner advertising agency Moon Communications Group.
Moon creative director Greg Logan said the logo speaks to Mardi Gras’ desire to inspire the world to love each other by celebrating the power and beauty of diversity.
“The logo is a universal symbol that connects with everyone in a different way,” he said.
“It symbolises all types of genders coming together and does not discriminate. Its symmetry indicates equality and people coming together to celebrate love.”
OPINION: Where to now for Mardi Gras?
Mardi Gras also announced a string of events and performers that will form the core of the 2012 festival, which runs February 12 – March 4, including RuPaul, D.E. Experience, Trevor Ashley and Sneaky Sound System.
This year’s Mardi Gras Festival boasts over 60 special events including iconic event favourites like the Parade, Fair Day and Harbour party.
One of the Mardi Gras Party headliners will be global drag superstar RuPaul, who has been immortalised not only in a wax portrait at Madame Tussaud’s Museum in Times Square, but also in several feature film roles and television shows.
Also appearing at the Party will be top UK performer Jonathan Hellyer, who will take us from the sublime to the ridiculous with his vastly popular cabaret act D.E. Experience.
Aussie dance music ensemble Sneaky Sound System promise a throbbing DJ set, with Miss Connie providing live vocals.
Partygoers can also expect performances from DJ Lady Miss Kier from iconic ’90s dance group Deee-Lite – think Groove Is In The Heart – as well as internationally acclaimed Londoners Horse Meat Disco.
The Australian premiere of Broadway hit The Temperamentals promises an intelligent, sexy and entertaining mix of politics, camp humour and emotional candour. Playwright Jon Marans tells the tale of two men who fell in love while forming America’s first gay rights organisation. This is a fascinating exploration of pre-Stonewall gay activism, in the early ’50s in the US, when ‘temperamental’ was a code for ‘homosexual’.
Fresh from his role as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray The Musical, Trevor Ashley turns his formidable talent to channelling the one and only Dame Shirley Bassey, in the spectacular two-act show Diamonds are for Trevor.
The world’s greatest exponents of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and vaudeville will transform the Sydney Opera House Studio into a lush salon, as the stars of La Clique dish up pure old-fashioned showmanship in the not-to-bemissed La Soirée.
A sell-out smash at the Adelaide Festival, Britney Spears: The Cabaret pays tribute to the car-crash-slash-pop-princess extraordinaire. Not so much a cabaret as a cry for help, the critically acclaimed show takes a satirical look at the perils of fame, with La Spears’ hits transformed into cabaret, seamlessly telling the tragic/comic tale of her life.
Cheesy serenades and camp camaraderie abound in Bob Downe’s Retro-gras Tea Dance, as Australia’s very own Clown Prince of Polyester is joined onstage by a range of special guests, for a hilarious Sunday afternoon of retro dancing, upstairs at the Beresford Hotel.
Queer Thinking speakers this year will include Professor Sara Ahmed from Goldsmith’s University of London, artist Gary Carsley and queer Muslim lawyer and social justice activist Alyena Mohummadally.
Hats Off! will return to showcase a star line-up of Australian musical theatre, comedy, dance and cabaret performers, all donating their time and talent to raise funds for HIV-related charities.
The Mardi Gras Festival Bar will return to the Oxford Hotel with a packed program of performers, big name DJs, comedy and some of our favourite community events – including Mega Furry Friday, when the Bears take over all four floors; Mega Buzz; Swagger; Hot Rod; Dog Tag; and Burlesque – plus Underground with Sydney Leather Pride.
The Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival will also return, there will be a visual arts program, the Team Sydney sports festival and a range of events for young people including a Queer Prom to celebrate Twenty10’s 30th birthday.
INFO: To view the full program for the Mardi Gras Festival 2012, go to www.mardigras.org.au/events
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This is the saddest day ever. The whole spirit of the Gay & Lesbian movement has been hijacked. Those who marched in 1978 must be horrified. This event has nothing to do with the Gay & Lesbian community anymore. Until we have equal rights, no discrimination and not viewed as a minority group, the mission is not complete.
Shame on you Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras committee. This is exactly what we fought for years to not take place. Perhaps the time has arrived to sell out, however a new movement should be formed. Goodbye to our 33 year fight in the name of greed, misguided vision and clearly no longer an asset to the community.
This is the saddest day ever. The whole spirit of the Gay & Lesbian movement has been hijacked. Those who marched in 1978 must be horrified. This event has nothing to do with the Gay & Lesbian community anymore. Until we have equal rights, no discrimination and not viewed as a minority group, the mission is not complete.
Shame on you Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras committee. This is exactly what we fought for years to not take place. Perhaps the time has arrived to sell out, however a new movement should be formed. Goodbye to our 33 year fight in the name of greed, misguided vision and clearly no longer an asset to the community.
“Adelaide Feast, Darwin Pride, Melb Festival” – no comparison… the Sydney one is the “go to” event partly because it HAS (had) the words Gay & Lesbian in the name of the event. It has been a beacon for the whole country, and internationally (esp in repressed countries it shines as a statement of “Out-ness” & freedom).
It’s our IDENTITY- again, imagine “ChinaTown” renamed “Town” !!
in 1978 it was a street protest to legalise homosexuality in NSW. Fast forward to 2012, the half a million spectators are mostly made up of drunken yobbo boys from the western suburbs as an excuse for a piss up in the city and see the freak show. Clearly its the most dangerous night of the year to be out on the town. Theres more to being Gay than this. I especially hate it that time of year when people wish me happy mardi Gras when It holds no relevance to me. This whole party hard mentality has truly lost its glorification and its something of a spoilt brat society.
I have no idea why people think dropping “gay and lesbian” from the title of the event is about heterofying or sanitising Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras has been running for three decades in Sydney – everyone knows its a gay event.
Lots of other gay events around the country don’t have “gay” in the name- Adelaide Feast, Darwin Pride.
Dropping “gay and lesbian” from it is obviously about including the members of our community who identify as things other than gay or lesbian – or don’t we want to include those people?
Having thought about this overnight, I think it is definately a huge mistake to remove the words “gay & lesbian” from the EVENT. (lets not even bother talking about the red-herring that that ORGANISER entity name has added the words back in to their title). The logo, and the public name of the event & parade & party & festival need to be changed back asap to include the words gay & lesbian. If too late for this year, then a committment right now to do it 2013 festival.
So many Christian Extremists forces are circling us at the moment- remember the Nile candidate earlier THIS YEAR who wanted the Parade moved to Homebush Arena, so no-one under 18 could see it, & he had a giant bus with anti-gay messages about BANNING the Parade!!!! – in 2011 it’s crystal clear that MORE THAN EVER we need the words Gay & Lesbian out in the public sphere & not censored. The Christian groups will seize on this & claim a victory that they helped censor the word gay out of the name of the entire event & festival. It’s like renaming ChinaTown to just “Town”! Don’t rip out our identity… please!! Pls change back in 2013!!! (if too late for this year- and btw: just changing the facebook display name today is not enough, again just a red-herring. Where it really counts is not what is told to us within the community, but what has been announced to the straight press ie smh article.)
Verushka and Garrett, well said!
Once upon a time, I used to think that this might be a good idea. But now I wonder, with a little unease, what was wrong with “Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras”? Or after 33 years, is that no longer “fashionable”?
Is Mardi Gras crawling up its own politically correct arse, or heading back into a closet of its own making, where it is not “cool” or “trendy” for “gay” and “lesbian” to be given such prominence because the marketeers of the metrosexual and “straight acting” mindset have spoken against it? Or is this a healthy evolution? Time will tell. But in a world where there is STILL so much discrimination and persecution against our community, anything that might sacrifice our symbols or diminish the visibility of our community and shared personhood should be soundly questioned.
This will leave many of Mardi Gras’ core constituency feeling more disenfranchised than ever, and that is a damnable shame. I identify strongly with the idea that Mardi Gras is gay Australia’s gift *to* Australia – but that gift is one of conscience, awareness, courage, and pride. If we strip the thing of its meaning and true identity, it is no gift but a soulless spectacle.
LOL There is nothing sweeter than the sound of drama queens hissing.
Mardi Gras was old, tired, and in need of a new frock – like a lot of old, tired queens. Yes, it may have become your one time of the year preferred opportunity to strut your tired and sagging stuff, but darlinks, it was not a pretty site. A whole lot of third rate, all inclusive, tawdry processions, dying s slow, slow death.
What is needed is a better class of peeps with maybe just a little more money and a lot more time and effort spent on costumes, floats, signage, and quality beads ( I just love a good bead, don’t you precious? …) Perhaps some nice corporate sponsors ( calling VISA – calling Jagermeister, where are you?) and some professional input would do us proud. Cuz it has not been a pretty past couple of years.
Oh yes, bring on the straights – bring on straight dollar corporate sponsorship, bring on politically correctness, too! ( I love the sound of a diggerydoo )
It was nice of them to keep a few token remnants of days gone past with the inclusion of RuPaul (God only knows we need to import an American drag queen) and an English Dame Edna show…woo hoo
Maybe we can afford to bring in a whole crew of straight people to run it after this next year ?
Come on Mardi Gras organizers, wear the words GLBTI with pride!
The good folk at New Mardi Gras Ltd are being economical with the truth.
A simple on line ASIC search shows that they have NOT changed the company name to include the words Gay and Lesbian. It in fact remains the same. The have however registered a separate business name containing these words.
Evidently the trading company name and the “brand” both do NOT contain the words Gay and Lesbian.
Please explain. Or perhaps don’t bother, it would only be yet another lie. Good bye Sydney Straight Festival and good bye Peter Urmson.
I have just written a letter to the SMH editor as a ‘traditional’ supporter of SGLMG. I read here that the company name will revert to include the gay and lesbian identity but the public will see the brand ‘Sydney Mardi Gras’. Sorry, but that doesn’t do it for me. This is about hiding our difference rather than embracing our diversity. And all, cynical though this sounds, I suspect it is about attracting sponsorship.
@ghostormardigraspast – what a gutless, spiteful individual you sound like, sitting there posting misinformed and incorrect comments under a veil of annonimity … you must feel very proud of yourself.
A little correction for you – Mardi Gras held a series of community consultations over almost a year, all of which were published on this site and in this esteemed publication. Each was an open invitation to members, non-members and people with ideas, thoughts and opinions to come along and share them freely.
I went to all of them and was disappointed to find the same people there time and time again.
Then, when those ideas and opinions are brought together into a public package, all of a sudden everyone wants to voice their opinion.
Well, news flash, like the changes or not, you had plenty of opportunity to get involved and have a say in the direction and future of the organisation. Clearly you chose not to do that, so why don’t you go shove your whinging back up your arse where it came from?
People like you never cease to amaze me – you are quite happy to whinge and whine about something you don’t like, but too fucking lazy to get off your arse and contribute in a positive and effective way.
It’s apathetic people like you who are actively contributing to the ongoing decay of our community – not those who bravely stand up and contribute their time, money and skill without compesation or due credit.
So, it appears that according to Mardi Gras, in our brave, new all-inclusive world, the only way to include ‘everybody’ (which must mean heterosexuals) is to remove the references to gays and lesbians. Presumably, in our all-inclusive world, heterosexuals can’t possibly be expected to celebrate the achievements of the gay and lesbian communities and so gays and lesbians need to just hand over the symbols of gay and lesbian pride in favour of some notion of ‘universal love’. And, let’s just ignore all of our history in the process.
If some heterosexual people are uncomfortable in celebrating something that is specifically about gay and lesbian pride, then there’s still a reason for us to make sure we publicly and loudly celebrate it. And if they are comfortable with celebrating it, then why do we need to hide it – can’t they just participate in our celebration?
Correction – the penultimate paragraph should have read “But what can one expect from an organisation lead by a person responsible for one of the silliest incidents of gay and lesbian activism
At least Peter Urmson has got one thing right. The dropping of words “gay and lesbian” from the name of the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras will certainly alienate traditional supporters.
What is even more alienating is that this change is a fait accompli without any preceding community discussion,any attempt to publicly explain or justify the change, or any respect shown to the many many many thousands of self-identifying proud lesbians and gay men who created and built Mardi Gras. But then, what can one expect from a n organisation largely run by a bunch of parvenus and arrivistes who have been involved with Mardi Gras for less than five minutes. There are some exceptions – people who will claim a long standing association with Mardi Gras – and these people should have known better and should now be hanging their heads in shame. You know who I mean DH.
But what can one expect from an organisation responsible for one of the silliest incidents of gay and lesbian activism – the ill thought out Tasmanian boycott,which actually damaged businesses who morally and financially supported homosexual law reform.
Guess we just sit back to see whether there is any fire left in the community to rise up and reject this change.
I totally agree with Verushka’s comments above.
The logo looks like a top down view of frottage.
The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a Gay and Lesbian community event. That’s the whole point! To remove the Gay and Lesbian Part from the name/logo is to remove the whole point!
Non gays and lesbians who are truly supportive of our community have always rallied to SGLMG. If there are non Gays and lesbians who feel uncomfortable supporting an event that is explicitly labeled “Gay & Lesbian”, then maybe they should take a good look at themselves, question their motives, and perhaps move on to support some other community organisation instead.
When I go to something like the Chinese New Year festivals, I go to enjoy Chinese culture, and to support and celebrate the local Chinese community (even though I’m not Chinese). If the Chinese community changed the event name to something more inclusive like, “The Sydney Lunar New Year Festival”, I’d think it a totally lame idea, and wouldn’t go. The point would be lost.
This change of direction is just an appalling watering-down of a once fantastic and powerful community event. I think the board has lost its way.
P.S. I say this as someone who has worked with and for Mardi Gras, in many different capacities (from staff to committee, to volunteer, to performer, to participant), in all it’s various forms, for the better part of 2 decades.
What, and now MG is officially a lame ‘brand’? How sad. I think the tipping point has finally come – our ‘community’ (god what a misnomer that is) is lame, trite, ineffective and already fading into obscurity. We have little political power. Little influence. No fight left in our bellies. We are now at the sad point where an invented ‘Brand’ (and it was invented, mark my words) and the whole spirit of MG is nothing more than a fancy dress parade and ‘another’ party where people can get wasted. Oh joy. (I also love the way the ‘ownership’ of the ‘bigger civil event’ has passed to the broader city now – and note how he uses the past tense!) Like we need another civil event?! For what? So straight people can use it as another excuse to get pissed and have a ‘token’ L&G experience once a year? Oh wait, it’s not L&G anymore, silly me. And at the same time you really expect these new ‘citizens’ to be supporting us by writing to their MPs in support of Gay Marriage? Laughable. Most straights I know do not give a shit! All of this begs the question…What do we have left guys n gals? Ask yourself. What do we have left? Because MG has just sold the whole fucking ‘community’ down the river…good luck to everyone who attends – enjoy the drugs, the music and the glitter, and all the colour – but MG will be forever beige from this day on. Well, this is not my community anymore. I’m leaving quietly. With no fuss. But know I’m genuinely glad to be out of it.
While I understand why some would be upset that people don’t say the “Gay and Lesbian” part of the name; as a bisexual, I feel its a step towards greater diversity. Even if we all know the event is LGBTQI/Queer inclusive, the fact that 2 were in the official name always made me feel excluded. Just an alternative view on what others have commented about.
@ A Member…Don’t be so negative – GET OVER IT!
The current chair and board have done more to re-invent and improve our festival and consult our community in the process than anyone ever has. All this whilst facing challenging financial conditions and cynical people like yourselves who moan and bitch about what they ‘should/should not’ do. If you want to make a difference, then support our organisation and provide feedback at the forums they have opened up to us all. Don’t sit in your chair and chastize it!
Congratulations to Peter Urmson and his team for taking a giant leap forward in alienating members and the gay community even more than with the plethora of NMG shenanigans over the last couple of years. Hope you have the time of your life at next year’s “Sydney Mardi Gras” dancing and parading with anyone but your own.
After all the lip service about community consultation over the last couple of years at least you’ve now come out of your closet and all but admitted you’re hypocrites who don’t listen and don’t care.
We’ll all wait with baited breath to hear the next great announcement, that no doubt being about a great big lump of Liberal State Government funding for the festival. How about you now admit you’ve sold out, that the removal of Gay and Lesbian from the Mardi Gras Festival is in return for Liberal dollars.
Not to be confused with @DavidW, I look forward to the new traction the entire LGBTQI community and supporteers will get, through the removal of an event name that limited connection for our wider community to the Parade and Festival. To ensure survival of the events it is time to move forward. However, we must never forget their past.
Shelley Argent of PFLAG understands the intent of the new name clearly:-
“There are many straight parents, who like me, enjoy being a part of the festival and parade. The renewed focus on inclusion will help me encourage more parents to play a part in the parade”.
I wonder how many people are going to turn the new Mardi Gras logo into ‘angel wings’ covered in feathers and glitter come Mardi Gras parade time!?!
All sounds good except that new logo. What is with that? Immortal love as the symbol is called it used everywhere. For valentines day and weddings etc. Shouldn’t it be something that has a unique meaning?
The logo is fine, but dropping “gay and lesbian” from the organisation’s name is just plain wrong.
Put it this way – if society has evolved to the point where an organistaion set up for non-heterosexuals feels it’s time to remove all mention of them from its name, there’s probably no need to have a Mardi Gras anymore.
Might be time for everyone to move on.
Double-checking some details, the article in SMH proudly announces that they ARE dropping “gay and lesbian, or the ‘alphabet soup of LGTBQI” from the name, so during the interview, when Peter is only saying Sydney Mardi Gras, that’s the name they are going with.
Disgusted, that’s the first word I’ll use. I normally volunteer with events, anxiously await the launch, Fair day and parade and party, but it will be a heavy heart IF I attend any of the above.
They’ve effectively just removed the whole point of the festival.
If indeed it has officially been renamed back to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, why is ‘Gay and Lesbian’ not on the logo? Not entirely sure about how honest this renaming is.
From what I can see- the ORGANISER is back to the old name, but the EVENT is now renamed “Sydney Mardi Gras”.
Not quite sure how I feel about the public EVENT (parade/ festival, everything) dropping the words “gay & lesbian”. First gut feel is that it’s a big mistake, but willing to see how it pans out I guess. I just see it as censoring “gay & lesbian” out of the public sphere, by removing those words from the actual public EVENT name. The fact the ORGANISER has “gay & lesbian” in the name now is irrelevant as that’s just the name that appears on the cheques they write etc-ie a back of house legal entity name. Christian Extremist groups will be thrilled about the words being removed from the public EVENT name.
As a long time cynic of the current Chair and Management Team, I would just like to say that in my opinion, I think they have finally done something positive.
Going back to the 1988 name name (that’s when Lesbian was rather belatedly added) says very clearly that the organisation is one and the same thing. Good move guys.
To be honest I am not as comfortable with the new logo. The old one is known very broadly in the worldwide GLBTI communities and symbolises both Sydney with the profile of the Sydney Opera House and our communities through the placement of the pink triangle.
I have to say that I found it a little funny (not in a nasty way) that Peter kept calling it Sydney Mardi Gras all through his interview.
It is a common problem and the organisation really has to work hard over the coming while to get EVERYBODY using the correct term and ONLY the correct term.
It is ‘The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras’