Mardi Gras should expand to western Sydney — Labor NSW election candidate
Image: As per tradition, the Dykes on Bikes gets the crowd revved up just before the start of the 2015 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. (Photo: Ann-Marie Calilhanna; Star Observer)
LABOR’S candidate for the Sydney electorate in tomorrow’s NSW state election has said the city’s Mardi Gras should relocate part of its festival to western Sydney to help change attitudes towards people outside of the inner city.
Edwina Lloyd, a criminal lawyer, also said she would spearhead a campaign aimed at revitalising the Oxford St precinct.
However, Lloyd’s rival for the seat has said only the Greens could be trusted to always vote for equality.
Despite Labor being tipped to make gains across NSW on Saturday, the party is predicted to struggle against the Liberals and sitting independent MP Alex Greenwich in the LGBTI-centric electorate of Sydney.
According the analysis by the ABC, based on the 2011 result Labor – which didn’t contest the 2012 by-election that saw Greenwich elected – could even end up in fourth place behind the Greens.
However, Lloyd said she was unfazed by the projection.
“I’m in it to win it,” she told the Star Observer.
“I have received emails from Liberal voters and independent voters who are dissatisfied and have decided to vote for Labor this election.
“We’ve gained a lot of ground and as they say, every underdog has her day and Saturday might just be ours.”
Like all Sydney candidates, Lloyd supports marriage equality but she said if further LGBTI rights were to get over the line residents from outside “the city bubble” need to be engaged.
“The way to progress the marriage equality agenda is by appealing to the hearts and minds of people in the outer suburban and regional areas, where support for marriage equality is at its weakest,” she said.
“I would like to… see if we can stage a satellite Mardi Gras event in western Sydney.”
While Lloyd didn’t spell out whether this would involve moving a current Mardi Gras activity or creating a new event entirely, one idea was to stage a stripped-down parade through the streets of a western hub such as Parramatta.
Alongside her support for Taylor Square’s giant rainbow flag, Lloyd has also produced a regeneration plan for Oxford St – called Sparkle Sydney – which calls for collaboration between local and state governments and advertising on trains and buses.
The Greens’ Chris Brentin conceded to the Star Observer that he only had an outside chance of winning Sydney.
“I’m not just doing this to win – I agree with the Greens’ policies, I’ve managed to run a good campaign and I feel there is no greater honour,” he said.
Asked if it was a struggle standing against both independent and Labor candidates, Brentin said his party had a clear point of difference: “The Greens are a far more progressive party than Labor who are only progressive after we’ve tied their hands and brought them over kicking and screaming.”
Brentin added that unlike an independent member, “the Greens have representation at local, state and federal level and a party behind you so you’ve got that critical mass”.
A psychologist with practices in Leichhardt and Liverpool, Brentin said the Greens were committed to changing clauses in the current Anti-Discrimination Act which allow religious schools and other bodies to bar LGBTI people.
“The Greens will not stop until all the exemption are removed,” he said.
If elected, Pendeleos said she wanted to be a voice for the environment, animal welfare and equality in a Liberal government.
Greenwich said he was beholden only to his constituents, not to party whips, and would look to amend the Anti-Discrimination Act and end the requirement of trans* people to divorce if they undergo transition when they are already married.
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what do we do??? the area is gay , its historical for the events as thats where the original one took place but its closure of the city & size is so big for the area…a conundrum
The west is still very very homophobic- bring a baseball bat!
Parramatta?! Pfft! Pfft!
No but I wouldn’t go if it was in my street. I am unsociable
no mardi gras has always been on oxford street since 1978 when it all started legal wise.they could do something later in the year at say october
Oh yay gay westies get a shout out
People that live in parramatta don’t want to go to parramatta
I thought mardi gras was a protest, not a party. Shouldn’t it be where protests need to happen?
No
Why not just hold it in Russia?
No definitely not!
Maybe fair day could be help in parramatta and parade in the city
There is no suggestion in this article that the parade itself move to Parramatta. Very cheeky Star Observer!!!!!!!
How open-minded our community has become. #sarcasm
Mm no lock out laws an we might create the free gay an happy attitude again just a thought lol
Where’s Parramatta?
Small mind. Small world.
So do you really think Parramatta as a location for any event is a viable option for Mardi Gras?
It’s not really a matter of having a small mind, it’s a matter of being pragmatic.
Mardi Gras started as a movement, a protest, against the mindset of society of the time. Now, it’s evolved into something else, which is fine. It’s gentrified Oxford and provided a space for the LGBTI community to have a safe place in Sydney. But if the grunt, angst of the origins of Mardi Gras is carry on, then it needs to reinvent itself and leave the party, attention-seeking queens to their own devices. The movement for visibility and changing mind set needs to be pragmatic. Stay away from Parramatta if you don’t have the balls. But don’t pretend like it’s a place you’ve heard of. Not everyone has been handed a silver spoon into a more accepting society like you.
No, but I wouldn’t go if it was on my street.
It will still be a good excuse to get out of Sydney for the weekend wherever it is
No, I don’t even visit parramatta. You would think no one had ever seen a girl with short hair before. I stay away and would not March or participate if it was over that way.
Anyway where we gunna party after… Parramatta ….
Wat a joke !!!
Seriously we walk in the foot steps of all that have gone before us…
I’m sure parramatta wasn’t a part of the revolution that Sydney Mardi gras is…
No.
ummmmm no
You are all able to read and see it says “relocate PART of” not relocate the whole thing… geez read more than the crappy headline
What’s wrong with having an MG event in the west?
No
Start with gay-friendly cafes, bars, events and pubs out west…Do not overwhelm the West by relocating the parade to Parra!
No
You would if it went down King St ….
No way. There’s nothing out west for me. I reckon it would kill MG.
no – sitting ducks for bashers and cops
Police? Yeah, they’re a real threat…