Urgent Meeting Called After Mardi Gras Accused Of Not Supporting Trans Community

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Board has been accused of not supporting Australia’s trans community, after choosing not to implement a number of resolutions passed at last year’s annual general meeting, with some members calling for an urgent Extraordinary General Meeting to address the issue.

In an email sent to members at 5pm on Tuesday, co-chairs Kathy Pavlich & Mits Delisle said the Board had chosen not to implement the operational elements of Resolution 2, which called for SGLMG to condemn the Trump administration, discourage partnerships with Trump-aligned supporters, and encourage parade participants to put trans rights in the spotlight.

Resolution 2 passed successfully at last year’s AGM with 578 members voting in its favour, 546 against, and 62 abstentions.

The Board also ruled against implementing Resolutions 5 and 6, which requested that SGLMG write to the federal and state governments calling for urgent reform to anti-discrimination law and bar parliamentarians who fail to commit to the reform from the SGLMG Parade and Fair Day; while Resolution 6 called for an entirely publicly funded Mardi Gras.

“This decision reflects the Board’s obligations under ACNC governance standards and the need to ensure all decisions align with Mardi Gras’ values, strategic priorities, and long-term sustainability,” Pavlich and Delisle said.

The Board cited a number of reasons for their decision, including respect for the independent thematic choices of Parade floats, ensuring Parade participation for public figures is not used as leverage for political outcomes, and the continuation of advocacy grounded in inclusion, collaboration, and coalition-building.

In the wake of the announcement, advocacy group Pride In Protest, who have two members elected to the Board, have called for an urgent Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss SGLMG’s decision and their commitment to the trans community.

“In a time where trans rights are being rolled back in this country, Mardi Gras is choosing to deliberately defy their membership and the motions they passed when in the past they have partially followed through with them. This is a deliberate choice to abandon the trans community politically,” said former 2019-2021 Board Director Charlie Murphy.

“To me, this seems like transphobic politicians are now explicitly being protected. Albanese has stated publicly that he does not think I, and all other trans women, are not real women. He is not acting on anti discrimination reform for us. So why are Mardi Gras picking a fight with the trans community instead of him?”

The successful motions followed precedent, former Board member argues

Motions passed at the AGM are non-binding and and don’t require the Board to act on them, but are intended to express the collective views of the membership.

The calls for unwavering displays of support for the trans community from Parade participants, comes after a horror year for trans rights.

2025 was bookmarked by the banning of gender-affirming care for trans youth across Queensland and the Northern Territory, with the former extending the restrictions until 2031 at the earliest. The Northern Territory also banned trans women  from women’s prisons, putting them in danger of sexual and transphobic violence. A decision from the UK Supreme Court ruled that trans women cannot be considered women, and more than 1000 anti-trans bills were introduced across the United States, seeking to block trans people from healthcare, education, and legal recognition.

“The motions that passed at the AGM were both basic and follow a well set precedent of a similar motion passed at the 2023 AGM, where members directed the board to write to state MPs in support of Alex Greenwich’s Equality Bill,” said 2023-2025 Board Director Luc Velez.

“As a director, I helped draft the letter the organisation eventually sent, which in no uncertain terms informed them that elected representatives who did not support our community in parliament should not feel welcome at our events.

“The current board is either ignorant of the organisations recent history of advocacy, or is deliberately misrepresenting member democracy as a ‘governance risk’ in service of Labor politicians like Albanese and Minns who have shown no interest in standing up for our community.”

Co-founder of Protect Mardi Gras, Peter Stahel, said the motions in question could not be implemented without undermining “Mardi Gras’ mission” and smuggling in unrelated agendas.

“[Resolution 2] was titled trans rights, but it was also a direction to every parade float about what their float should be about. That’s not solidarity. That’s policing,” he told Star Observer.

“This is classic entryism. Create internal division. Use it to organise. Then try to remake Mardi Gras from an inclusive celebration into a narrow shouting match.

“I’d call on Pride in Protest to focus on organisations that don’t support trans rights instead of attacking Mardi Gras. But I know they won’t, because their aim is to fundamentally change Mardi Gras itself to be less inclusive.”

Board condemns “targeting” of SGLMG staff and Board

In their email, Pavlich and Delisle also alleged Board members and staff had been “subject to personal and harmful commentary online” and a “coordinated email campaign seeking to influence governance and decision-making”.

“Some public claims have been factually incorrect, and their repetition has caused distress to our people,” they said.

“We want to be clear: targeting, intimidating, or attempting to pressure staff or the Board is not acceptable and does not align with the values we uphold as a community organisation.”

It comes one week after Pride in Protest published an email template which people could use to call for Mardi Gras to embrace trans rights and publicly demand urgent anti-discrimination reforms.

Users of the template were able to edit and amend parts, or send it as is.

“The Mardi Gras board are attacking the trans community by framing us as ‘intimidating’, that our rights are an ‘imposition’, and pretending that trans rights are against the nature of Mardi Gras which has advocacy of LGBT rights in the bloody constitution,” said Evan Gray, Pride in Protest spokesperson and the mover of member Resolutions 2 and 5.

“If the board won’t come to the table because emails from trans people are too ‘intimidating’, then we need to force the board to engage with the trans community.”

SGLMG did not respond to Star Observer’s request for a statement by the time of publication.