Echoes of 1978’s Mardi Gras rang out on Sydney’s streets this weekend.
The activist group Pride in Protest were banned from marching in the Mardi Gras parade last Saturday night, raising concerns for the safety of political discourse in Sydney.
Tensions began when the Mardi Gras Board published an open letter calling for a mutual ceasefire in Gaza.
A Jewish LGBTQIA+ group called Dayenu then responded by stating the pro-ceasefire stance made Mardi Gras “no longer safe” for queer Jews and pulled out of the parade.
Dayenu’s position was met with opposition from many.
The Tzedek Collective denounced their “anti-Palestinian stance and maintain that Dayenu does not speak for all queer Jews.”
Pride in Protest, who have continuously lobbied the Mardi Gras Board for stronger political action, took to social media to call out Dayenu.
Following Dayenu’s departure from the parade, PiP accused them of “fake Zionist tears,” which caused Mardi Gras organisers to issue a formal warning against PiP.
The Mardi Gras chief executive, Jesse Matheson, stated Pride in Protest’s scrutiny of Dayenu was “offensive to the code of conduct and the values that Mardi Gras upholds.”
Matheson’s warning came Friday morning, giving the group until 5pm to respond and delete the posts.
Pride in Protest refused the censorship and were subsequently banned from marching in the parade.
Footage reveals police blocking Pride in Protest from entering the parade and intimidating members of the group.
The intensified police presence comes after a tightening of protest laws in Sydney and escalating tensions between police and protestors.
Later in the evening, this would come to blow as an activist was “violently restrained” by police for holding a Palestinian flag.
In a statement issued by PiP, witnesses saw “NSW police officers with the riot squad grabbed a Palestine flag away from a trans woman participant and violently restrained her, with four officers grabbing her.”
The woman called to be let go and was removed from the parade.
Footage of the incident shared by PiP calls out NSW Premier Chris Minns’ harsh censorship laws and reminds viewers that Mardi Gras began as a protest, and should remain that way.
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