Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is an annual pride parade in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. Mardi Gras is the largest gay and lesbian event in Oceania. It first began as a protest for gay and lesbian people in 1978. In 2019, an attempt was made to alter the name to include more groups under the queer umbrella, but this was voted down by the gay and lesbian members, who wanted the event to remain exclusive . This decision was met by disappointment from especially bisexual Australians, who consider it a form of Bisexual erasure.

The Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras is one of Australia's biggest tourist drawcards, with the parade and dance party attracting many international and domestic tourists. It is New South Wales' second-largest annual event in terms of economic impact, generating an annual income of about A$30 million for the state.

The event grew from gay rights parades held annually since 1978, when numerous participants had been arrested by New South Wales Police Force. The Mardi Gras Parade maintains a political flavour, with many marching groups and floats promoting gay and lesbian rights issues or themes. Reflecting changes since the first Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, participants in the Mardi Gras Parade now include groups of uniformed Australian Defence Force personnel, police officers from New South Wales Police Force, as well as interstate and federal police officers, firefighters and other emergency services personnel. However, this remains a controversial topic among the community, with many objecting to the inclusion of police. Marriage equality was a dominant theme in the 2011 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade with at least 15 floats lobbying for same-sex marriage.

In 2019 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras submitted a bid to host WorldPride 2023 competing against Montreal, Canada and Houston, Texas. InterPride chose Sydney, Australia to host WorldPride 2023 at their Athens October 2019 Annual General Meeting of three hundred delegate organizations, the first time WorldPride was held in the Southern Hemisphere or Asia Pacific region.