NSW Police will march at Mardi Gras but not in uniform

NSW Police will march in this year’s parade after coming to an agreement with the Mardi Gras board.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb at the 2023 Sydney Mardi Gras Parade.

NSW Police have agreed not to march in uniform at this weekend’s Mardi Gras following the alleged murders of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird by serving constable Beau Lamarre-Condon.

The decision to reverse the ban on police marching has been met with condemnation by Pride in Protest, a group aligned with certain Mardi Gras board members, which says the community has been betrayed.

In a statement, Police Commissioner Karen Webb said: “The Mardi Gras Board has reached an agreement with us that will allow NSW Police to march in this year’s parade.

“Police have agreed not in march in uniform, in consideration of current sensitivities. 

“I am delighted that our LGBTQIA+ officers, as well as our other police who are allies and supporters, will be allowed to march this year as they have done for the past 20 years.

“The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is an important event on the NSW Police calendar and as Commissioner, I am committed to continuing to strengthen the relationship between my organisation and the LGBTQIA+ community.”

Commissioner Webb thanked the Mardi Gras Board for the “cordial discussions” over the past few days.

Independent MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich welcomed the agreement for NSW Police to march, calling it a “significant step in the importance of the LGBTQ community and police working together towards community safety”.

“Having the focus on gay and lesbian liaison police officers, and not in uniform, is an appropriate compromise to address community concerns about the police needing to improve their approach to the LGBTQ community and our events,” he said.

In a series of social media posts, Pride in Protest, which describes itself as a grassroots political organisation, said the Mardi Gras board had bowed to police pressure by “backflipping” on the decision to

Board member Luc Velez is aligned with this group and is understood to have been key in getting the original vote to ban the police over the line.

“NSW Police have spent the last few days embarking on a brutal media pressure campaign, undermining the queer community’s calls for police accountability and withdrawal from the parade,” the Police in Protest posts read.

“Whether in uniform of not, police participation in the Mardi Gras parade is unacceptable.”

The group also criticised the police for being “violent and hostile toward the queer community”.

In their own statement, released on Wednesday, Mardi Gras said GLLO (Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers), LGBTQIA+ officers, and their allies, would participate in a “reduced capacity to the originally-planned NSW Police float”.

“This weekend’s Parade is a beacon of hope, pride, celebration and inclusivity - this outcome allows for GLLO’s who volunteer their time and service to the community to participate in the event in a considered and respectful way as we navigate this tragedy together,” the statement from Mardi Gras said.

On Monday night, the Mardi Gras board requested that NSW Police not march, due to the distress it could cause in the LGBTQIA+ community over the deaths of Davies and Baird.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Webb said LGBTQIA+ officers had been “robbed” of their ability to march in this ­Saturday’s Mardi Gras parade in Sydney, revealing “fruitful discussions” continued with the organisation’s board to broker a deal.

“ (It’s) just the start of conversations,” she said on Tuesday.

The Sydney Mardi Gras board had originally said that the devastation of the alleged murders of gay couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies – allegedly at the hands of police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon – had forced the move, saying the community needed “space to grieve”.

The Australian Federal Police said it had made the decision not to march at Mardi Gras on Tuesday.

“This decision was not taken lightly, but we acknowledge how some in the community are feeling about the blue uniform,” a federal police spokesman said on Tuesday.