It was party time for Melbourne’s LGBTQ community on Sunday as they celebrated the 30th year of the Midsumma Pride March, which continues to provide a shining light in dark times.
As the temperature rose to 33 degrees before midday, the hottest accessory on Fitzroy Street in St Kilda was no longer a sequined headpiece or rainbow boa. Instead, handheld fans and water guns were the saving grace of a celebratory and sweaty crowd.
The Fresh Rollerskaters ready to glide through St Kilda during Midsumma Pride March on Sunday.Credit: Wayne Taylor
But that’s not to say the fashion wasn’t immaculate: Drag queen Vin Tagè turned heads in a dress made of 500 recycled express Australia Post bags, which took her two weeks to create.
“I like using unconventional materials like rubbish bags in my drag. Once I even used a Christmas tree,” she said. “Today we’re marching for everyone’s rights and for equality, and we have a great time doing it!”
Chloe and Brooklyn travelled from Geelong for the spectacle, and said their first ever Midsumma Pride had “amazing vibes”.
“It’s nice to see so many people who are like us, because sometimes it feels like there’s not a big community in Geelong,” Chloe said.
Drag queen Vin Tagè during the Midsumma Pride March. Credit: Wayne Taylor
Some marchers had tongues firmly planted in their cheeks. One group dressed as doctors and nurses wheeled a hospital gurney down Fitzroy Street, with an ocker-looking man hooked up to an IV drip of Victoria Bitter. Signs held aloft offered “straight conversion therapy”.
Other groups had worked hard on their choreography, like the LGBTQ running group Melbourne Frontrunners, who delighted onlookers with a synchronised pom-pom routine set to Kylie Minogue.
The pumping music and glittery outfits provided a salve for some after a bruising week for the transgender community.
Joe Ball, a proud transgender man and the Victorian LGBTIQA+ commissioner, said gender diverse Victorians were feeling a rising tide of insecurity due to world events.
Last week after he was sworn in as US president, Donald Trump signed an executive order rolling back protections for millions of transgender and non-binary people, including mandates around how sex and gender are interpreted in government policies.
“I feel with events that are going [on] internationally – and unfortunately domestically – that we need this march more than we have ever needed this march,” Ball said.
Further angst has been driven by the Queensland government’s decision on Tuesday to pause the prescription of gender transition drugs, including puberty blockers, for young people. Queensland ordered public health facilities to cease offering such interventions to new patients, the first state in Australia to do so.
Following Queenland’s announcement, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said on Friday he was launching a review into Australia’s treatment of transgender children and adolescents, with nationally consistent guidelines to be created.
Premier Jacinta Allan (centre) at the Midsumma Pride MarchCredit: Wayne Taylor
Speaking at the Midsumma Pride March on Sunday morning, Premier Jacinta Allan said she stood against those trying to wind back the gains made for equality over the past 30 years.
“To any right-wing leader who wants to take notes from the MAGA movement and bring that to Victoria: I will fight you. I will fight against that, and I will fight for our LGBTIQA+ communities,” she said. “Equality is not negotiable in this state.”
This was the first year the Midsumma Festival had banned participants from wearing formal work uniforms in the parade, leading to Victoria Police and Ambulance Victoria pulling out before the event.
The presence of police at the march has long been a point of contention. About 50 protesters blocked the path of officers and threw paint on them during last year’s event.
Allan said the decision for uniformed officers not to march this year was between Midsumma organisers and Victoria Police, but she understood people would be disappointed.
“I am of the view that Pride and Midsumma is an event for everyone,” she said.
Animal Justice Party senator Georgie Purcell said there was a lot of trauma that could be triggered for LGBTQ people by having a uniformed police presence at the march.
“I can absolutely understand why a community that has historically suffered police violence does not want police as part of their day,” she said.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.