Tag: Sydney

Posted on

Australia’s Prime Minister Marches In Mardi Gras Parade For 1st Time

For the first time in its 45 year history, the sitting Prime Minister of Australia marched in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese marches in 2023 Sydney Mardi Gras Parade (photo: official Twitter)
For the first time in its 45 year history, the sitting Prime Minister of Australia marched in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Anthony Albanese, the country’s 31st prime minister, joined over 12,500 attendees in Oxford Street for the annual LGBTQ event, which began in 1978. Continue reading “Australia’s Prime Minister Marches In Mardi Gras Parade For 1st Time”

Posted on

Shopping Mall Balloon Drop Ends With Customers Crushed in Melee

The BBC reports a balloon drop at Westfield Parramatta mall in Sydney went terribly wrong when several participants were crushed in the chaos. Hundreds of shoppers were fighting for the balloons which were stuffed with gift cards (some worth only $5). The incident occurred at the end of a marathon Christmas shopping event. There were children among those injured in the crush, and several were sent to the hospital. The mall owners say they are investigating the incident.

Posted on

Sydney, Australia, Will Host WorldPride 2023

WorldPride will head ‘down under’ in 2023 as Sydney, Australia, has won its bid to host the biennial LGBTQ+ celebration. Choosing between Sydney, Montreal, and Houston, members of the worldwide InterPride network of Pride organizations gave Sydney 60% of the vote.

The celebration, comprised of cultural activities, parades, and festivals, will take place at the same time as the 2023 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. With its winning bid, Sydney becomes the first city in the southern hemisphere to host the event. In 2021, WorldPride will be hosted by two cities in two countries for the first time. The events will be held from August 12-22 in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark and the Swedish neighboring city Malmö in the Řresund Region. The two cities are a short 15-minute commute from each other. This past summer, WorldPride was held in New York City to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, long considered the birth of the gay rights movement.

Back in 2012, during my first visit to Sydney, I made this travelogue video about the gorgeous men city:

Posted on

Sydney Mardi Gras spectator possible victim of police brutality

SameSame is reporting the story of a Sydney Mardi Gras spectator who was slammed to the ground head first while handcuffed.

The victim has apparently stated he was trying to cross the road during the parade.

While we don’t know the full story, from the video we do see about a minute before the slamming to the ground. The victim doesn’t seem to be violent and he was already in handcuffs, so it’s difficult to imagine what the officer felt was so threatening to him that he had to slam the young man head first to the cement.

Near the beginning of the video, onlookers can be heard referencing would could have been earlier violence as the voices talk about the young man already having been slammed to the ground before.

Update:

It appears the incident did not begin with the young man attempting to cross the street.  Jamie Jackson speaks to A Current Affair about the incident: