How do you feel about the presence of NSW Police marching in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, and why?
I really don’t want police to march or even be nearby at all. Why? Simply because they kill, attack, victimise, charge, harass, arrest and imprison many more queer, black and disadvantaged people than they do cis, straight, white and privileged people. They are dangerous to be around and should never be welcomed in queer spaces.
What impact, if any, do you believe Police participation in the Mardi Gras Parade has on the event and its attendees/participants?
I know for a fact that the police scare and intimidate many queer people. In the most recent Mardi Gras I was on a protest float (Queers Against Colonialism) and one of our party was snatched aside by police just before we entered the marshalling area in Hyde Park. They were invasively searched and wrongfully accused of intent that they didn’t have! They completely missed marching in Mardi Gras because of it and had to sit in the police cell instead until later on when they were released.
It made all of us feel really unsettled and scared and sick to the stomach…it could so easily have been any single one of us. If it was traumatic for us, imagine how traumatic it was for the person abducted in broad daylight!
I think this person was an easy target as they didn’t have a friend with them…their girlfriend was meeting them later. They were a completely unthreatening-looking and acting person, too.
What suggestions do you have for how Mardi Gras can ensure that the Parade remains a safe and inclusive event for all, in relation to this consultation?
Do not allow police to march, ever again! Do not have police lining the sides of the streets to police us, either! If there needs to be some form of crowd control or ushering, surely it could be done by nonviolent, queer volunteers!
I also think we should ban all corporate floats and sponsorship and return the event to its grass roots, to a protest event like it began in 1978, and a noncorporate celebration of queerdom.
Growing the future: ways forward, together 
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