:: Outlaw fundraiser Sat Oct 30th, 2004 ::

dress for lawlessness

@ Marrickville Bowling Club
91 Sydenham Road, Marrickville
(on corner of Fitzroy Rd)

dress-up space

DJs
chris lego
fraughman
ken oath
mashie p
mime
mukole
nicky pee
nor@dre3nlin
zeitgeist

Performance
keztril
manky daemon
norrie mAy-welby
and much more.....

The money raised at this party was towards the costs of the Queeruption gathering.

It was held at the Marrickville Bowling Club, 10pm till late.

DJ's
Seymour Butts
Non Bossy Posse
Zeitgeist
Fraughman
Nath
Starchy
Back Alley Sally
Morphism
LegoKid and Mukole

Visuals by Fold

Performances happened throughout the night.

Victoria Park (cnr Parramatta Rd and City Rd)

[This article appeared in the Sydney Star Observer (ermmm. can't remember the date, but the issue right after Fair Day 2004)]

I am concerned about New Mardi Gras’ excessively commercial, bordering fascist, approach to running its events. A gay guy, I went along to Fair Day with a small supply of anti-war leaflets to give to my friends to encourage them to join me in a queer contingent at the upcoming Global Day of Action against the US occupation of Iraq on March 20th.

No sooner had I given flyers to three of my close friends, than I was stopped by a New Mardi Gras official and told to desist or I would be removed from Fair Day. I disputed this with her, as I didn’t believe that I was doing anything unreasonable, anti-queer or for personal gain.

Soon my friends and I found ourselves followed and surrounded by about 20 officials, security guards and police, and being threatened with removal from Fair Day for handing out “unauthorised” leaflets, even though the same leaflets were in fact being handed out by one of the paying stall-holders anyway.

I was advised I would have to obtain permission and pay a large fee to the “owner” (presumably NMG) for a “roving” license.

Clearly many large multinational corporations had considered us queers to be a worthy target market that justified such expense, as there was no shortage of them roving and touting their leaflets unapprehended by NMG.

I also heard that a queer community youth group was prevented by NMG from giving away free water because this competed with food stall-holders who had paid NMG a fee for the right to sell water (at the usual inflated prices) to Fair Day patrons.

Is this what Mardi Gras has come to?

What kind of a community organisation acts in this authoritarian, insensitive way toward its own community members?

Why does NMG censor worthwhile, popular, non-commercial causes like the Global Day of Action against war?

Fair Day is not the all-inclusive, grassroots, free queer expression and social space that it should be, but is now predominantly a slick, exclusive marketing opportunity for pink-dollar-hungry, wealthy corporations that want to target our queer community with their products.

NMG appears to be a willing accomplice to this routing of our space, censoring and obstructing anything that doesn’t conform to its blatant commercial format.

If representing our community in this commercial fashion is what Mardi Gras is now about then I question whether we have really achieved anything more with Fair Day than corporate respect for our allegedly large consumer worth.

Chris M

THE "SERIOUSLY DEPRAVED" ANSWER BACK

This Sunday 25th Pell’s Angels will descend on St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney in a colourful revolt against Catholic Cardinal George Pell’s recent public statements about homosexuality.

Last Monday George Pell’s cousin made front page news of the Sydney Morning Herald when she publicly “came out” and called on Pell to personally respond to her 19 year old lesbian relationship. He responded by saying that he continues to support the church’s official position on homosexuality and that he “regrets the path she has chosen”. Pell’s public response to his cousin is part of the church’s ongoing campaign against homosexuality, and follows on from last year’s Vatican edict calling homosexuality “seriously depraved”.

This Sunday the new radical queer group Queeruption will be sending its own personal letter to Pell and calling on him to end the campaign of hate.

This campaign has a real impact on the basic rights of lesbian and gay people to legal recognition and freedom from violence and discrimination. The recent study 'Homophobic Hostilities and Violence Against Gay Men and Lesbians in NSW' (NSW Attorney General/ Urbis Keys Young) found that half of all lesbian and gay people suffered homophobic abuse in the past year. The bigoted attitudes of Sydney’s religious leaders legitimate and fuel that abuse.

George Pell we regret the path YOU have chosen and we refuse to remain quiet.

We meet at 11am Sunday January 25 outside St Mary's Cathedral, College St, opposite Hyde Park, Sydney. All welcome. BYO Halo.

Costume making/banner painting working bee this Saturday 24th 1.30 outside Newtown Neighbourhood Centre.

@Newtown Hotel (upstairs)