Mardi Gras

This past Saturday marked the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebrations. I work on Oxford Street, which is where the parade was held, and many of the shop owners were going all out in preparation. It seemed like everyone was selling glitter, metallic hot pants, beads and basically anything with a rainbow pattern. Last year the city painted the crosswalks in rainbow paint, but after some backlash about the safety (and cost) of doing that, this year they stayed their usual color. ANZ (one of the major banks here) managed to compensate for the loss by bedazzling several of their ATMs in the area, which they renamed ‘GAYtms’.

In the US I always thought of Mardi Gras as an opportunity for straight boys to go to New Orleans and get drunk, but the gay and lesbian community here have transformed it into a way to come celebrate together and bring attention to current events. This year there were several floats protesting Vladimir Putin’s homophobic laws, as well as a parody of the Australian Prime Minister’s border protection policies. I steered clear of Oxford Street this weekend, but I am celebrating Fat Tuesday with a bag of salt and vinegar chips.