‘I am furious’: Cop mardi gras ban is reckless, writes Jonathon Moran

Banning police from marching is going to cause more damage to those needing to see rainbow love in places it hasn’t traditionally existed, writes Jonathon Moran, who argues the move sets the community back decades.

For almost all of history, queer people have been fighting for inclusion and acceptance. In Australia, that fight was exemplified by the very first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, a protest March demanding equality and an end to police discrimination against queer people.

After decades of struggle, this is something that is finally within our grasp. We have the head of the NSW Police apologising for the appalling treatment of community during the spate of LGBTQA hate crimes in the 80s and 90s.

And even more so we now have a protest march that was once a protest against police, become a celebration that officers themselves actively take part in.

Half a century of hard won protest is not something to be thrown away lightly.

Police have come a long way since the first mardi gras protest march in 1978. Picture: Ann-Marie Calilhanna.

The decision to ban the NSW Police Force from mardi gras sets the community back decades.

It is dangerous, reckless even, driven by the egos of a misguided few.

I am furious, not for me but because visibility is everything. If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.

In this case, we are going back to the old days of hiding.

In an inclusive society, that sends a terrible message to a community that rightly hurting.

Now more than ever the police need to be visible at mardi gras.

The NSW Police Force has come a long way since 1978, that first night of mardi gras where the queer community protested and suffered severely as a result.

The community is right to be angry over the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

And sure there are questions for the NSW Police to answer as to how an officer became charged over their disappearances.

But the outrage here should not be aimed at the police generally.

Pictured in Darlinghurst at the Taylor Square Rainbow crossing ahead of this years mardi gras is Assistant Police Commissioner Tony Cooke and former Police Commissioner Mick Fuller with police officers (L-R) Jenny Zou, Jake Pattison, Martha Winch, Rachel Fawcett, Jon Beard, Ann Sidlo and Dominic Quinn. Picture: Richard Dobson

The NSW Police Force has come a long way since 1978, that first night of mardi gras where the queer community protested and suffered severely as a result.

Many were brutally bashed. It was not okay. It is not okay.

Banning police from marching is going to cause more damage to those needing to see rainbow love in places they haven’t traditionally existed.

The City of Sydney float at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade in 2022. Picture: Damian Shaw

That is the young Australians in smaller communities.

Mardi gras, or more generally the Pride and equality movement, is about visibility.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb this week apologised for past treatment of the queer community at the hands of police.

MARCH 5, 2022: NSW Police officers take part in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, SCG, Moore Park. Picture: Damian Shaw

That is a huge deal. Former Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has previously apologised to the ‘78ers.

The people pushing for police to be banned from mardi gras should ask themselves the question – do they really want us to be part of the same community or do they want to play the politics of victimhood and oppression forever?

I know which society I want to live in.

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