A fight for control of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has resulted in a fiery extraordinary general meeting, which booted two directors off the board.
Tensions flared inside Harold Holt Community Centre on Saturday morning as a fractured membership decided the fate of four board directors. Some members were swearing, jeering and trading barbs before two hecklers were eventually kicked out.
Left-wing activist group Pride in Protest called the meeting to eliminate two board directors from its opposing faction, Protect Mardi Gras, following months of feuding. Two Protect Mardi Gras members then moved to eliminate Pride in Protest’s two board directors.
In the end, the majority of members voted to immediately remove Pride in Protest’s Luna Choo and Damien Nguyen and voted to retain Protect Mardi Gras’ Mits Delisle and Kathy Pavlich.
Pride in Protest’s campaigns often oppose Mardi Gras decisions – deeming them not progressive enough – and have raised the ire of many members, prompting some to form Protect Mardi Gras.
Transgender rights are a particular flashpoint. Despite most members agreeing on their importance, as well as other LGBTQ+ rights, the two groups diverge on to how the organisation should promote that agenda.
Saturday’s vote followed a contentious annual meeting in November, when members voted to pass a resolution to encourage all Mardi Gras “parade participants to make support for transgender rights a key part of their float”.
The board decided against implementing members’ wishes because it “sought to impose creative direction on parade participants in a way that is inconsistent with our established application process”, among other reasons.
Pride in Protest, in response, accused the organisation of being transphobic and put the resolution to a vote once again on Saturday. Protect Mardi Gras put forward the same motion, minus the float recommendation.
A majority of members voted to pass Protect Mardi Gras’ motion, while Pride in Protest’s resolution was dismissed.
Members took turns passionately speaking for and against both motions, often met with jeers from a portion of the crowd that disagreed.
One member took to the stage and said: “Hopefully this is the last time we hear from PiP [Pride in Protest],” and received a round of applause. When Nguyen was removed as a board member, a third of the crowd stood up and began cheering.
One member yelled: “Bye, Felicia”, referencing an internet meme.
In the lead-up to the meeting, a board feud erupted between Pavlich and Delisle on one side and Choo and Nguyen on the other. After the board decided not to implement November’s motions, the co-chairs and activists attempted to censure each other.
In February, Pride in Protest’s float was kicked out of the Mardi Gras parade, less than 24 hours before the event, after claiming that a Jewish float supported genocide.
The activists had failed to reply to a formal warning issued the day before.
Following Saturday’s meeting, Nguyen said: “There was a lot of emotion today, [but the] outcome was a clear development in the fight for transgender rights, both in this state and in Mardi Gras.”
Choo added: “There is the Mardi Gras membership that we would see in general meetings, and then there is Mardi Gras on the streets, where people take to the streets and continue their proud tradition of fighting for our equal rights … and that will continue forward.”
A co-founder of Protect Mardi Gras, Peter Stahel, said he was upset about the effect of the feuding but that the members ultimately voted for inclusion.
“Members voted decisively to remove two Pride in Protest directors. We take no pleasure in that, and we don’t believe members did either,” he said.
“We believe that progress is won by building the largest and most powerful possible alliances … Pride in Protest has got a long history of meeting motions to ban councillors, ban politicians, ban military, ban the police, and we think that weakens us.”
In a board statement following the outcome, Mardi Gras said it recognised that the meeting and its surrounding debate pointed “to a need for change within the organisation, regardless of the result of any individual resolution … The board will treat this as a mandate to strengthen governance and trust with members”.
For Andrew Nissen, a Mardi Gras member since 2021 who is not affiliated with either faction, now more than ever the membership and community need to stick together.
“I think that some of the motions had a danger of fracturing the community and splintering us, so I’m broadly in support of everything that occurred today, but I hope that the organisation and the community can stick together for the future,” he said.
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Kayla Olaya is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
