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Australia

Sydney displays its annual gay pride event

Sydney has celebrated its 31st anniversary of the “Mardi Grass Parade” and has welcome thousands of gay tourists. Australia has always been popular for its beautiful beaches and surfing championships, yet since 1978 it became the epicenter of the gay pride. This annual event boosts Australian tourism, almost doubling the number of assistants to the Mardi Grass every year.

This year the parade was celebrated on March 7th and it was headed by the, the 20-year-old, Australian, Olympic champion Mathew Mitcham. The gymnast openly celebrated, accompanied by many other male dancers, the opening of the greatest gay event of the world.

The Mardi Gras gay parade, annually celebrated in Sydney Australia, is a gay pride parade, which started as a pro gay rights protest in 1978 and it has become one of the most popular and celebrated parties of the world. Every year more and more people visit the city to join the parade, still, it is ironic to think that the parade gained its popularity thanks to its opponents such as conservative Christians.

This year 135 floats, representing a number of causes, attracted an estimated 300.000 people along its Oxford Street route. The parade had a double objective, the first was to celebrate de gay pride and the second was fighting for the people who still are being discriminated. This year's parade theme was "Nations United," a tribute to homosexuals around the world, particularly in countries where they cannot live openly.

The floats usually represent important causes such as the environment, indigenous people, etc. This year one of the floats was a tribute to Milk who was a gay US politician murdered in 1978.

The US comedian Joan River also took part in the parade and a contingent of uniformed police marched to show their support to the gay community and their opposition to violence against people of different sexual orientation.

The floats are characterized by elaborate and colorful costumes. This year around 10.000 marchers took part in the celebration. The parade was followed by a dace party, which attracted hundreds of people and was celebrated at the Royal Botanic Gardens.