LGBTQIA+ activist group expelled from Mardi Gras over ‘anti-genocide views’
Expulsion from parade deepens bitter internal disputes over Israel, police and politics
LGBTQIA+ activist group Pride in Protest has been expelled from tonight’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) parade over its criticisms of a pro-Israel LGBTQIA+ Jewish organisation.
On Friday, Pride in Protest received a letter from SGLMG CEO Jesse Matheson demanding the group “delete or retract” social media posts critical of Dayenu, a Sydney-based Jewish LGBTQIA+ social group.
“These posts include statements characterising Dayenu as ‘pro-genocide’ and alleging that Dayenu ‘support genocide’,” Matheson said in the letter.
Dayenu briefly withdrew from the parade earlier this month, with a spokesperson citing “an increasingly dangerous antisemitic climate in Australia... since the tragic events of the October 7 attack in Israel” and the protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog outside Sydney Town Hall, which it described as a “violent riot”.
The group also briefly considered withdrawing from the 2024 parade before ultimately choosing to march, telling The Australian a Pride in Protest float bearing the slogan “trans pride, not genocide” made the group concerned for “the safety of our members in Sydney’s Queer spaces”.
Several posts on Pride in Protest’s Instagram characterise Dayenu as a “Zionist lobby group”, inviting LGBTQIA+ Jewish people who “wish to march in Mardi Gras without being pressured to support genocide” to march with the now-barred Pride in Protest float.
“If Dayenu ever actually withdraws from the parade because of their desire to support genocide, we encourage Mardi Gras to give their space to other Jewish groups who proudly oppose an anti-trans, pro-cop and pro-genocide agenda.”
Pride in Protest have vowed to march in the parade regardless of their expulsion, planning a snap rally outside Town Hall this afternoon.
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Mardi Gras divided on BDS, Israel
The official Mardi Gras after party is typically a showcase event, closing out the colourful parade down Sydney’s Oxford Street to hundreds of thousands of cheering spectators.
In years past, the after party has featured headlines like Cher, Kylie Minogue, Dua Lipa and George Michael.
But on February 3, SGLMG abruptly cancelled the party, with Matheson citing the loss of this year’s unnamed headline artist and “continued cost escalation” as justification for the “difficult choice”.
In the background to the cancellation were long-running tensions between factions inside SGLMG over the organisation’s political direction.
The organisation’s annual general meeting (AGM) in November saw heated internal arguments over Mardi Gras’ approach to Palestine, police and the Australian Border Force. One such dispute centred on the involvement of Live Nation – a major target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement due to the activities of its subsidiary, Live Nation Israel.
News of the after party’s cancellation was seized upon by Pride in Protest. In a press release, the group pointed to SGLMG’s contracting the 2026 after party to Kicks Entertainment, a subsidiary of American multinational Live Nation Entertainment, as a “horrific mistake”.
Live Nation’s subsidiary, Live Nation Israel, has been described by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel as “a driving force behind a number of international artists crossing the nonviolent Palestinian civil society do-no-harm picket line to perform in apartheid Israel”. In October 2023, Live Nation Israel stated that “we stand with the residents of Israel, IDF fighters and the security forces”.
“We deserve more than a disastrously organised and outsourced party that’s cancelled 25 days out,” Pride in Protest spokesperson Miles Carter said at the time. “What we need is a publicly-funded Mardi Gras independent from genocide complicity.”
Independent Senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe also weighed in, calling Live Nation’s involvement “pinkwashing”.
“Events like this Mardi Gras party, organised by subsidiaries of companies complicit in Israel’s occupation, must be challenged,” Thorpe said. “When companies profit from violence and injustice abroad, it’s up to all of us to hold them to account.”
Since October 2023, the question of whether Mardi Gras should support the BDS movement has been a heated one. A motion calling on the organisation to join the BDS movement and recommending the board “not partner with companies that are complicit in human rights violations on the Palestinian people” failed by just six votes at November’s AGM. A similar motion in December 2023 failed by 140 votes.
Pride in Protest spokesperson Jean Maxine claims the result shows growing support among Mardi Gras members for the organisation to take a stronger stance against Israel.
“Queer people relate to the struggle for the liberation of Palestine, and Mardi Gras since 1978 has always been about fighting for oppressed groups of people,” Maxine said.
Police, politicians and the Parade
SGLMG is a member-directed organisation, allowing paid members to elect four of SGLMG’s eight board directors each year. Members can also propose and vote on motions at the organisation’s AGM. While the board is not bound to act on successful motions, they are often adopted as indicative of the membership’s collective opinion.
November’s election of SGLMG board directors put the internal struggle for control on full display. Pride in Protest ran an insurgent campaign promising to return Mardi Gras to its radical roots, while a rival ticket dubbed Protect Mardi Gras ran on a platform opposed to Pride in Protest’s “exclusionary agenda”.
“They want to ban LGBTQIA+ police, politicians and sponsors,” Protect Mardi Gras campaign material warned. “This risks turning Mardi Gras from a celebration of inclusion into a space of division.”
While Pride in Protest candidate Luna Choo received more votes than any board candidate in history, Protect Mardi Gras-affiliated directors won a majority on the new SGLMG board.
The bad blood between the two groups has continued post-election. Besides the BDS motion, several proposals backed by Pride in Protest were narrowly defeated at November’s AGM, including motions that would have barred NSW Police, the Australian Defence Force, Australian Border Force and NSW Corrective Services from having parade floats.
While NSW Police have marched in the parade since 1998, the question of whether the institution should be welcome at Mardi Gras has been a vexed question for Mardi Gras members. Uniformed NSW Police officers were uninvited from the 2024 parade after an officer was charged with the murder of couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. In 2013, footage of a NSW Police officer throwing teenager Jamie Jackson to the ground during the parade went viral and sparked allegations of police brutality. A Sydney magistrate later ruled the officer had used excessive force against Jackson, saying police had “brutalised” him.
At its January meeting, the board also rejected several Pride in Protest-backed motions that members approved, including proposals encouraging parade floats to highlight trans rights, asking the board to “inform parliamentarians they will not be welcomed at the Parade and Fair Day” if they don’t support anti-discrimination reform and for the organisation to pursue public funding over corporate sponsorship.
Grassroots activists vs political parties
The board formally censured Choo and fellow Pride in Protest-affiliated board director Damian Nguyen at the same meeting for sending emails in support of the approved motions from their official SGMLG email accounts, on the grounds that Choo and Nguyen were “using [their SGLMG accounts] for campaigning or advocacy against the organisation”.
However, the board has taken no action against Protect Mardi Gras-aligned director Savanna Peake, who was rebuked by the Labor Party in November for using an internal party email list prepared for the 2025 federal election to distribute Protect Mardi Gras campaign material. Peake – who was the Labor Party’s candidate for the seat of Wentworth and previously worked as a campaign advisor for Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek – was also forced to apologise after one of her unsolicited campaign mailouts inadvertently outed a queer university student to their family.
The presence of board directors with active party political connections has been another of the organisation’s running sores. At the November AGM, a motion directing the board “to ensure that any director, while serving a term as a director of SGMLG or MGA, must suspend any role with any political party” was withdrawn.
Besides Peake, two other SGLMG board directors have have either stood as candidates for office or held prominent paid roles with political parties. Mits Delisle ran as a Labor candidate for Inner West Council in 2025, while Jarrod Lomas was chief of staff to then-Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt. Both Deslisle and Lomas are affiliated with the Protect Mardi Gras ticket.
While Pride in Protest does not oppose SGLMG board directors having party political affiliations, Maxine told Deepcut that “concern around political party involvement exists when the interests of these board directors are at odds with what is needed from the organisation by the members”.
Responding to questions, an SGLMG spokesperson said the board was “focused on delivering the Festival and don’t intend to engage in further commentary on internal governance or geopolitical issues”.
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