For those of you that are in the U.S. the Logo channel is running a special segment on the gay lifesavers and our participation in the Mardi Gras parade. I’ll find out more about when it’s running and keep you posted.
Tag Archive for 'mardi gras'
This year’s mardi gras was built up with so much expectation being the 30th anniversary and I know for a lot of people it certainly didn’t disappoint. It was great to see Olivia Newton-John perform Xanadu but going to the party just reaffirmed that it’s not my thing these days. It was too big and just all a bit much, but it’s always good to see 20,000 people having the time of their life even if it is chemically enhanced.
For me the highlight was the parade. It was just as much fun the second time around but didn’t leave me on as much of a high this year. It was great to see the 78′ers got some good coverage on the news. They were the original surviving marchers from 30 years ago who marched in protest for the rights we take so much for granted today. In 1978 they were arrested, harrassed and their names were printed in the paper causing them to lose family and jobs. Thankfully, because of what they started, we can now march in celebration instead.
I’ve just been sent this little highlights package of our efforts in the parade on Saturday night! Hope you enjoy!
Well, the time has arrived and it’s gay christmas here in Sydney today. It’s less than four hours til our float is meeting at our designated spot and the closer it gets the more excited and nervous I get. It’s going to be a wild night with a sold out dance party afterwards and rumours of all sorts of stars making an appearance on stage. Forgive me if I don’t blog tomorrow, I’m going to be curled up in bed starting the recovery process!
Happy Mardi Gras everyone!
Last week at rehearsal we turned up to find a photographer from the local media waiting to shoot us for a cover story. Now when I did several years of patrols not once did the entire patrol group stand around in a line with our hands up to our forehead, nor did we all jump and cheer in unison. Maybe I was working on a dull patrol but I think it’s more the photographer didn’t know what to do with us.
It’s now only 3 more sleeps til the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and everyone is enthusiastic about it and there is a great vibe about the party. Given that it’s the 30th anniversary, it’s been especially popular and tickets are sold out, with numbers like 18,000 and 22,000 being thrown around. Rumour has it they are releasing another 1,500 tickets by the end of the week!
Gay NSW Police officer taunted and called poofter boy by his colleagues.
Church leaders march in Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to say sorry.
Lance Bass thought Justin Timberlake was gay.
Mutilated remains are possibly King Edwards gay lover.
Yesterday saw the first Harbour Party, now known as Sol Y Luna run by Mardi Gras itself instead of another promoter and I have to say it was a success! For the first time in weeks the Sydney weather turned it on hot and strong and so did the boys. It’s always the party with the highest percentage of eye candy. I was one of the few people not partaking in recreational substances but a couple of times walking through such a mass of beautiful boys in the darkness and strobe lights once the sun went down, it felt like I might have been a bit drunk on pretty.
I will say, the 80’s flouro retro revival thing really should be left to the baby-gays. Late 30’s means you were there the first time and it shouldn’t be done again!
For anyone visiting for mardi gras for the first time and going to the after party which is officially sold out for the first time in years, this video gives you a good impression of what to expect.
I’ve heard rumours of all sorts of performers, Olivia Newtown-John, Cindy Lauper, George Michael, Scissor Sisters and Bear Force One. Who will actually turn up? Who knows!
Here’s a clue for what to expect from our mardi gras float. No there won’t be any waves, but you’ll love this video anyway. This is why I had so much fun rowing surfboats. It’s an amazing adrenaline rush crashing through a massive surf or flying down the face of a wave. It doesn’t hurt that there are fit guys all around with their speedos up their butts either!
I seriously can’t wait for the parade, its going to be so much fun!
With just over a week to go before the 30th Anniversary Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade makes it’s way up Oxford Street I thought I’d share this brief history of the parade from Wikipedia with you.
Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is an annual gay pride parade and festival for the LGBT community in Sydney, Australia, and is one of the largest such events in the world. Despite its name, it is not held on Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday) or indeed, on a Tuesday at all. It began on June 24, 1978 as a protest march and commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. Although the organisers had obtained permission, this was revoked, and the march was broken up by the police. Many of the marchers were arrested. Although most charges were eventually dropped, the Sydney Morning Herald published the names of those arrested in full, leading to many people being outed to their friends and places of employment, and many of those arrested lost their jobs as homosexuality was a crime in New South Wales until 1984.
The event was held again in 1979, with the name changed to the “Sydney Gay Mardi Gras”. In 1980 the first post-parade dance party was introduced, and in 1981 the parade was shifted to February. An increasingly large number of people not only participated in the event, but larger numbers of the wider community turned out to watch the parade. In 1988 the parade was renamed the “Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras”.
The parade, whilst featuring many in the gay community with a penchant for exotic costumes and dance music, has always retained a political edge, with often witty visual commentary on their political opponents featuring in the floats. As homosexuality became more and more accepted in the wider community, more gay representatives of community groups and organisations have taken part in the parade, including the police force. The parade features a number of costumed characters that return for many successive years. Dykes on Bikes and Miss New Zealand are perfect examples of regular crowd favourites.
Last week’s second rehearsal for the mardi gras parade saw our numbers swell to about their capacity and a few of the moves simplified. We are lifesavers after all, not dancers! It’s a fun, strong and sexy routine which, when we are all in full flight will look really cool! There are some hot guys in the float again this year, and again being in the mardi gras doesn’t mean they are all gay! We have a fair number of straight guys and girls joining us to show their support which is a fantastic thing in my opinion. It’s only a week and a half away! God that’s gone quickly!
Ok, it’s time for an update on the shorts. I’ve been told that dSquared is stocked in Sydney at a store called Mood, so I called them. Sadly they didn’t get all of the range that the shorts were in and don’t have those ones apparently. So despite the kind offers of a couple of people to send me money towards them, I can’t get a hold of them.
So I’m going to have to go with plan A, which is dye the ones I’ve bought and have them taken up.
Not having an unlimited supply of wealth at times puts a few limits on one’s life, which isn’t always a bad thing. I’m sure with vast sums of money at my disposal I would have a massive collection of trivial stuff, especially of the shiny and fun variety. I saw these shorts on a certain male model (click the pic to see who) and decided they would make the perfect outfit for the Mardi Gras after party, yet beind dSquared I couldn’t afford them even if I could find them here in Sydney. So my mission to find small short short short red shorts began. When I get something particular in my head I can’t accept a poor substitute but unless one of my loyal readers happens to be one of the Caten twins who make up dSquared, I’m going to have to. I’ve found a pair of shorts in a vague approximation of the right style and I’m going to have to try and dye them red and have them shortened. Fingers crossed.
Here is the first pic from our rehearsal on thursday night. The pace has definitely been wound up from last year’s march with a more energetic routine, albeit with a similar flavour, we are lifesavers not dancers after all. I for one, am really pumped to be in the parade again and this year I’m not making the mistake of going home afterwards, I’m going to the party and skaking my groove thing all night. Last year I went home and lay in bed so wound up I couldn’t sleep all night, instead I lay there still doing the routine over and over with Bonnie Tyler telling me she was still holding out for a hero.
Check the bruises on my left arm from silks on Tuesday night. I got a little tangled doing a trick. Oops. Some have said it makes me look tough. I disagree, I look like a $5 crack whore who’s pimp wasn’t satisfied.
For those still yet to join our float who are eligible, head over to Life Savers With Pride and register.
It’s nearly ten o’clock on Thursday night and I’m about to go to bed so I can get some sleep before getting up for the gym at 5.30 in the morning. I’ve just got home from the first of our rehearsals for the Mardi Gras parade in a few weeks time. It’s looking like we’ll have about double the number of participants in our float of last year for this year’s float. There are even a few guys that read this blog in the float! Check out our float’s blog here.
Tomorrow night a friend is hosting a group of around 7 or 8 guys for drinks, nude. I posted that we wanted to do this a few weeks back asking whether we can do it without it becoming sexual and I think with the guys we’ve got coming, definitely. They are all guys that enjoy being nude for the enjoyment of the freedom, not for sex. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I won’t be posting photos!