Poster for the first Mardi Gras in Sydney, 1978, designed by Chris Jones.(Supplied: Ken Davis)The event would mark the ninth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, an uprising that led to The first Sydney Mardi Gras was organised by Sydney’s Gay Solidarity Group on 24 June 1978 to commemorate Manhattan’s 1969 Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall protests were sparked by police harassment of a queer bar and are today widely regarded as the birth of the modern LGBTQ liberation movement. A total of 53 people were arrested during Sydney's first-ever Mardi Gras. was like to face such brutality, merely for existing in his authentic self, and how despite the progress made in The first Mardi Gras held on June 24, 1978 was planned as an addition to the morning demonstration to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969. At the time, the lesbian and gay community in San Francisco were fighting the Briggs Initiative, which was a push to remove anyone who supported lesbian and gay rights from the As such that first Mardi Gras march was a major civil rights milestone beyond the gay community. Up to 3,000 people marched in an incident-free parade in 1979. In 1980 a key new element was introduced – the post-parade party. The face of the modern Mardi Gras we know today was taking shape. The first Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978 was held during the nine-year anniversary month of the Stonewall riots in New York. While the celebrations were overshadowed by police brutality that night, The 1978 Mardi Gras began as a peaceful march, but ended violently On Saturday, Sydney's famous Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras marks its 40th anniversary - and its first celebration since Australia The police arrested 53 people with many participants beaten. Names, addresses and occupations of those arrested were published in the media. Many lost their jobs and homes. Some took their own lives. It wasn’t only gay men and lesbians who joined the first Mardi Gras. The police attack on the first g ay M ardi Gras in Kings Cross late at night on Saturday 24 June 1978 was a pivotal moment in Australian social and political history. Though there had been gay and lesbian groups and protests after 1970, for the first time gay and lesbian rights became a significant public issue, creating a momentum for reforms. This year will mark 47 years since the first Mardi Gras, which began as a protest in the streets of Sydney in 1978. Now, nearly 50 years later, rare footage of the event has surfaced. Sydney's Mardi Gras parade has a complex history of both LGBT activism and police brutality, after the first march in 1978 resulted in dozens of people being beaten and arrested by local officers. The first Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978 was held, in part, to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and to protest police harassment and anti-gay laws. SYDNEY MARDI GRAS 2013 | POLICE BRUTALITYA man attending the Sydney Mardi Gras on Saturday night is thrown to the ground by a police officer as he attempts t Some of the 53 people arrested after the first Mardi Gras march in 1978 were locked up at Sydney's Darlinghurst Police Station. The building now tells the story of the LGBTQIA+ community. As such that first Mardi Gras march was a major civil rights milestone beyond the gay community. Up to 3,000 people marched in an incident-free parade in 1979. In 1980 a key new element was introduced – the post-parade party. The face of the modern Mardi Gras we know today was taking shape. 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 from the Meanwhile, Bryn Hutchinson (pictured below), who until last month was co-convener for Community Action Against Homophobia – the group that organises and holds large regular marriage equality rallies in central Sydney – has told Same Same that about 11.25pm on Saturday he was unexpectedly set upon by up to five police officers from Parramatta Local Command as he crossed the Oxford Street ABC News: Sydney Mardi Gras - NSW Police apologise over '78er' arrests and bashings 4 Mar 2016 ABC News: Mardi Gras in Sydney should be free of politics, 78er Ron Austin says The first Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978 ended in extreme police brutality, with 53 people arrested and bashed by police. In 2019, then-police commissioner Michael Fuller gave an official apology on READSydney Mardi Gras 2013 between 11- 11:30pmPavement just off Oxford St, Corner of Riley and Burton StreetAssaulting officer - FAIRFIELD LAC 266Backstory:I
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