By Daisy Dumas
After a wait of nearly 40 years, "78er" Julie McCrossin​ says she is thrilled and emotional to learn that the NSW government is to apologise for the discrimination and mistreatment that she and other gay rights activists suffered in 1978.
The commentator and broadcaster said she understood that she and a group of 78ers - organisers of Sydney's first Mardi Gras - will attend Parliament on Thursday, when Coogee MP Bruce Notley-Smith will introduce the motion of apology to the NSW Legislative Assembly.
Homosexuals demonstrate in the morning march in Sydney before a street parade that would eventually evolve into the Sydney Mardi Gras.Credit: Fairfax Media
On June 24, 1978, more than 500 activists took to Taylor Square in Darlinghurst in support and celebration of New York's Stonewall movement and to call for an end to criminalisation of homosexual acts and discrimination against homosexuals. The peaceful movement ended in violence and public shaming at the hands of the police, government and media.
Remembering the attacks and imprisonment of many activists at the rally, Ms McCrossin said the events around Sydney's first Mardi Gras were "cruel and inhumane" and left many traumatised.
The scene outside the Central Court of Petty Sessions in Sydney where gay and lesbians demonstrated in 1978.Credit: Fairfax Media
"If we get an apology, I think it's a wonderful and important community event. It's a recognition that what happened was wrong and traumatic," she said, adding that many 78ers had lost their lives to HIV.
"The most important thing is that the young people right now who think they might be LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer) know they are part of the community and that discrimination by law against us, let alone by the representatives of the law, the police service, is wrong."
That the bipartisan apology will come from the coalition government, she said, was particularly exciting.
"I don't doubt I'll cry," she said. "This is emotional, this is personal."
(From left) Melissa Gibson with 78ers Julie McCrossin and Ron Austin at the Sydney Mardi Gras in 2013.
Mr Notley-Smith said the apology "will acknowledge the significance of the events of that night in June 38 years ago; the struggles and harm caused to the many who took part in the demonstration and march, both on that night and in the weeks, months and years to follow. Many 78ers are no-longer with us; many have lived a life of hurt and pain, and many took their own lives. This apology is for all of them."
Penny Sharpe, Shadow Minister for the Planning, Environment and Heritage, said: "The tenacity of the 78ers paved the way for three decades of law reform. It will be an important moment in the history of NSW to see recognition of their contribution and an apology for the treatment they received for standing up for what is right."
Ms McCrossin acknowledged that the state and police now played a large role in Mardi Gras and had taken steps towards equality, but added that she looked forward to the day when religious leaders apologised for discrimination of the LGBTQ community within Catholic, Anglican, Jewish Orthodox and Muslim circles.