The members of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras at the extraordinary general meeting held last weekend voted to put 'Gay and Lesbian' back into the official name of the iconic event which celebrated its 35th anniversary this year.

The Sydney Mardi Gras Parade will once again be known as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade; and the company that runs it will have its name changed from New Mardi Gras Ltd to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Ltd, according to a statement released by the Board of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras following the extraordinary general meeting held on Saturday. The move follows a formal process of community consultation that commenced in November last year.

In a 2013 Community Consultation report available on the website, the naming the event has been widely debated even before the words 'gay and lesbian' were dropped from the official event name in 2011. At the time, the then Board of Directors took a decision to re-brand the Festival to "promote and celebrate greater sexual diversity and inclusivity; build a fresh, contemporary brand with longevity; and better appeal to younger people."

However, the majority of respondents (1,877 in total) who completed the 2013 survey did not support the removal of ‘gay and lesbian’ from the name of the Festival and Parade.

Key concerns raised about the dropping of 'gay and lesbian' included concerns that the removal of the words would "result in lowering public visibility"; and that the words were seen as being "significant and important specific ‘labels’" as well as to show "inclusion and recognition of sexual diversity".

The statement added that the SGLMG's mission remains the same, which is to "inspire the world to love each other through the power and beauty of diversity."

"We will continue to focus on increasing engagement with women and young people across all areas of the organisation, as well as deeper engagement with our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities as mandated in our constitution, Festival and Parade entry criteria.

"We will continue to develop Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras as a celebration and powerful platform for expression on behalf of Sydney’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities, and further enhance Mardi Gras’ reputation as a beacon of pride and acceptance regionally, nationally and internationally."

The SGLMG is a non-for-profit member-based organisation that organises the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade and Festival as well as number of other events throughout the year.

Excerpt from What’s in a name? Findings and recommendations from the 2013 community consultation (PDF):

Reasons given

Those who did not support removing ‘gay and lesbian’ from the name of the Festival and Parade highlighted the following as the most common reasons:

- The name change removes ‘gay and lesbian’ from the title (59%)

- It should be made clear to people that the event is about people who are gay and lesbian (59%)

- The name is an important part of our heritage (58%)

- It’s ‘selling out’ the recognition that gay and lesbian people have fought for (51%).

This was followed by those who:

- Did not understand why the name was changed (35%)

- Felt hurt and betrayed (16%).

Under ‘other’, common responses included:

- Concerns removing ‘gay and lesbian’ negatively impacts on the uniqueness, identity and purpose of Mardi Gras events

- Concerns that equality has not yet been achieved for gay and lesbian people

- A strong sense of ownership over the organisation and events by gay and lesbian people

- Recommendations to consider words like ‘PRIDE’ as a way to communicate gay and lesbian issues in order to maintain a unique identity whilst also being inclusive.



Image from mardigras.org.au

Dates for the 2014 Sydney Mardi Gras season:

Sydney Mardi Gras Launch – Friday, 7 Feb

Fair Day – Sunday, 9 Feb

Harbour Party – Saturday, 22 Feb

Sydney Mardi Gras Parade – Saturday, 1 Mar

Mardigrasland – Saturday, 1 Mar

The Laneway – Sunday, 2 Mar