After a wait of nearly 40 years, "78er" Julie McCrossin​ says she is thrilled and emotional to learn that the NSW government is to apologise for the discrimination and mistreatment that she and other gay rights activists suffered in 1978.

The commentator and broadcaster said she understood that she and a group of 78ers - organisers of Sydney's first Mardi Gras - will attend Parliament on Thursday, when Coogee MP Bruce Notley-Smith will introduce the motion of apology to the NSW Legislative Assembly.

Homosexuals demonstrate in the morning march in Sydney before a street parade that would eventually evolve into the Sydney Mardi Gras. Credit:Fairfax Media

On June 24, 1978, more than 500 activists took to Taylor Square in Darlinghurst in support and celebration of New York's Stonewall movement and to call for an end to criminalisation of homosexual acts and discrimination against homosexuals. The peaceful movement ended in violence and public shaming at the hands of the police, government and media.

Remembering the attacks and imprisonment of many activists at the rally, Ms McCrossin said the events around Sydney's first Mardi Gras were "cruel and inhumane" and left many traumatised.