Star Observer: This 78er Explains Why He’s Launched A Campaign To ‘Protect Mardi Gras’
Michael Barnett OAM
This 78er Explains Why He’s Launched A Campaign To ‘Protect Mardi Gras’
This 78er Explains Why He’s Launched A Campaign To ‘Protect Mardi Gras’ is an opinion piece by Peter Murphy.
In 1978, I was bashed in a police cell after taking part in the first Mardi Gras. I was denied medical treatment. I could have died. That night changed my life forever.
The police brutality we faced back then was real and raw. It was driven by deep homophobia, hate and corrupt power. For many of us who survived it, those wounds are still close to the surface. So when people say Mardi Gras should be inclusive of police, I understand why some bristle. I was there. I lived the violence.
But I’ve also lived the progress.
In 1998, twenty years after that first parade, LGBTQIA+ police officers marched in Mardi Gras for the first time. It wasn’t a free pass for bad behaviour. It was a victory. A hard-won, deeply symbolic sign that change was possible. That we were reaching people. That even institutions that persecuted us could be pushed to reckon with their history, change their behaviour, and show solidarity.
After the NSW Police properly apologised to the 78ers in 2018, I worked inside the police education system to help make it happen. And let me tell you: progress does not come from shouting people down. It comes from showing up, educating, challenging, and building alliances.
Today, I see a different kind of threat to Mardi Gras. Not from police this time, but from Trump and religious fanatics. But instead of uniting against this threat, a small group of activists are pushing for exclusions that would splinter our community and weaken the power of this extraordinary event.
This group wants to ban LGBTQIA+ police, military, certain political parties, and corporate sponsors. Their goal isn’t to broaden the movement – it’s to use it to punish. Their strategy is to stack the AGM, take over the board, and totally change what Mardi Gras is and has been.
The first Mardi Gras was a celebration designed to engage a new audience in the struggle for equality and to make our community more visible. That’s why it was called a Mardi Gras. In 2025, it’s still both a protest and a fabulous party. It needs to remain that way.
I respect protest. I respect rage. And I respect people who fight hard for change. But I also know what works. And division, shouting and nastiness inside our community does not work.
We are facing a global backlash against queer visibility. In the United States, Pride parades are being cancelled because of violent threats and new laws. In Eastern Europe, they’re being banned outright. Authoritarian leaders from Putin to Trump are targeting our communities. Social media has turbocharged hate and made it harder to build bridges.
At a time like this, we need strong, visible, unifying institutions. We need beacons. Mardi Gras is one of the most powerful beacons we have.
It’s not just a parade. It’s a symbol that travels the world. It reminds young people – in rural towns, in hostile families, in countries where it’s dangerous to be out – that there is a place for them. That there is a community. That they are not alone.
And it reminds the broader public that we are here, we are many, and we are worth celebrating.
Mardi Gras is made possible by thousands of people and countless allies. We don’t all agree on everything. What unites us is the belief that visibility matters, that inclusion matters, and that change comes when people open their hearts – not when they’re shut out.
I will never forget the day in 2016 when the NSW Parliament apologised for what was done to us in 1978. Nor the day the police apologised. Those were milestones I never thought I’d see. They happened because we refused to retreat into anger. We demanded justice, and we brought people with us.
Some want to see the police banned from Mardi Gras. I want to see them held to account – and also held to their promises. I want to see LGBTQI+ officers marching proudly, showing young people that the future can be different from the past.
I’m not naïve. I know not all police behaviour has changed. I know there are people in uniform who still act with prejudice. But I also know that change happens when people feel part of something. When they’re invited to be better.
Protecting Mardi Gras isn’t about siding with institutions. It’s about preserving the power of unity. It’s about refusing to let a small group turn this incredible celebration into a battleground of exclusions.
We can’t afford that. Not now. Not when queer people are under attack across the world.
So I’m asking members of the LGBTQIA+ community who have become disillusioned by the conflict around Mardi Gras to come back and help. Please join or rejoin Mardi Gras. Please vote to keep it inclusive. Be part of the fight to protect one of our most precious tools for change. We’ve come too far to throw it away.
Peter Murphy is a 78er, a long-time activist, and a spokesperson for ‘Protect Mardi Gras: Many Voices, One Parade.’