Two Sydney Mardi Gras Board Directors Have Been Stood Down

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Board have temporarily stood down Board Directors Damien Nguyen and Luna Choo.

In a statement sent to members on Friday morning, the Board said the motion was passed in a meeting on 12 March with a two-thirds majority of the directors present, with Choo and Nguyen – who are affiliated with Pride in Protest (PiP) – being stood down as directors for a period of 28 days, effective from 4 March.

The Board allege the action has been taken as an interim governance measure, to support their continued functioning while a structured process takes place to address current issues, and a space for constructive mediation and resolution processes can be created.

“The Board has proposed a pathway to reconciliation that we hope can be progressed during the stand-down period,” the statement said. “We are approaching this process in good faith and with the hope that it will allow all involved to move forward constructively.

“Our organisation exists because of the strength, passion and diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community it represents. The Board remains committed to working through this matter in a way that reflects our shared values – respect, accountability, and a commitment to community.”

While some aspects of the process will be kept confidential to ensure fairness and integrity, organisers said further updates will be provided where possible.

On 2 February, Choo and Nguyen were formally censured for affirming their personal support of a PiP trans rights campaign using SGLMG company emails. Choo, the only trans woman on the board, was repeatedly misgendered in the process.

“Mardi Gras is about uniting over common goals, such as standing up to ongoing transphobia, police brutality, and genocide-complicity,” said Nguyen in a statement. “These are popular positions within the LGBTQIA+ community.

“I am concerned about the future of the organisation. Who would we be as a community-led organisation without the community?”

This is not the first time Pride in Protest-affiliated Board Directors have been stood down. In 2021, Charlie Murphy and Alex Bouchet were stood down, with Pride in Protest alleging the move was a punishment for their role in organising a protest march on Oxford Street on March 6. At the time, Murphy was the only openly trans woman and out sex worker on the Board.

“This is the emergency tactic to shut down dissent when the leadership – unquestioningly backing the two major political parties and big corporate sponsors – feel they are losing control,” said Pride in Protest spokesperson, Rohen Snowball.

“A majority of members backed motions at Mardi Gras’s last AGM to highlight trans rights and advocate for anti-discrimination reform. Faced with the opportunity to stand with our community, the organisation’s leadership instead chose to ignore us.”

A difficult few months for Mardi Gras & Pride in Protest

The suspension comes after a difficult few months for the Mardi Gras Board. On the evening before the Mardi Gras Parade, organisers removed the Pride in Protest float from the event following a formal warning “regarding compliance with the 2026 Parade Entrant Terms & Conditions”.

The warning pertained to social media posts made by Pride in Protest regarding LGBTQIA+ Jewish group Dayenu, which Mardi Gras organisers said “characteris[ed] Dayenu as ‘pro-genocide’ and alleging that Dayenu ‘support genocide.”

“In 2024, Dayenu publicly opposed the SGLMG Board’s open letter calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” Pride In Protest said in a statement issued on the morning of Saturday 28 March.

“At the time, LGBTQIA+ Jews of Tzedek Collective denounced Dayenu’s “anti-Palestinian” statement and called them out for ‘holding onto Zionist ideologies and the perpetration of genocide’.

The move was denounced by Member of the NSW Legislative Council, Dr Amanda Choh, who said, “It’s an extraordinary act of censorship to exclude Pride in Protest from the Sydney Mardi Gras parade, especially when the organisers are happy to include the Liberal Party who have called for the parade’s funding to be reviewed and continue to vote against LGBTQIA+ rights in Parliament.”

Star Observer has contacted Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for direct comment, but has not received a response by time of publishing.