Gender+and+Sexual+Expression+in+Sydney+Mardi+Gras

Historical Context
toc While the Carnival of Trinidad and Tobago features the predominance of women dancing alone or in groups, in a space historically dominated by men and heterosexual couples, on the other side of the world, there exists a completely different scenario. Called Mardi Gras in Australia, this event grew from gay rights marches held annually since 1978, when numerous participants had been contentiously arrested by New South Wales State Police and the Parade maintains a political flavor, with many marching groups and floats promoting LGBTQI rights issues or themes (Kates, 2010). Held also in what would be considered a pre-Lent period (February to March), the Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual LGBTQIA pride parade and unlike the pride marches of North America and Europe, and more in line with South American events, this takes place at night and reconfigures the traditional street parade with its flamboyant, subversive theatricality and performance within the tradition of carnival (Tomsen & Markwell, 2009, p. 205). According to Tomsen and Markwell (2009, p. 205), "Participants include queer businesses, community and counseling services, HIV services and support groups, police liaison officers, as well as political, legal, health, religious, parent’s, ethnic, sporting and regional organizations. More provocatively, the parade features Leather/BD and other fetishists, sex workers, transsexuals and drag performers, troops of semi-clothed marching men and women, nudists, ‘radical faeries’ and protesters with messages against war, police harassment, discrimination, violence and in favor of cannabis law reform."

Settings and Props
In terms of setting, the socio-political environment that allows this carnivalesque event to thrive is linked to the importance it has on Australian culture and society, for its economic impact, grand scale, artistic accomplishment and endorsement of social tolerance (Carbery 1995, as cited in Kates, 2010). It’s strong roots in gay and lesbian activism have not withered. According to present organisers of the festival, Sydney Mardi Gras was conceived as a fresh, fun and frivolous way of approaching very serious issues of social inequalities, violence and homophobia (Kates, 2010). The props, in keeping with the theme of deviance, features costumes and displays that some would consider socially risqué, gross and disgusting. On one end of the spectrum there is a hyper masculinity and huge spectacle of semi-clad toned tight and muscular male flesh, giving rise to (no pun intended) an atmosphere of pervasive male lust (Kates, 2010). Kates (2010) goes on to describe that on the opposite end of the gender spectrum is the sequinned, bejewelled and gaudily dressed in bright neon colours drag queen who also embodies the playful, hyperbolic zeitgeist of the festival.

Chosen Locale and Deviant Behaviours
The physical space for the festival is the city of Sydney and one specific site is Victoria Park. Keeping within the framework of playful deviance, this is the locale within which the deviant acts will take place and upon departure from the space, said behaviour will be terminated. Along with images and acts of parody, behaviour, aptly supported by appropriate props and costume, include mockery of religious and political figures. Kates (2010) states the almost anything goes at the Mardi Gras. For the three and a half weeks of festivities, there is a wild spectacle, a carnivalesque space created by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Tomsen and Markwell (2009) describe the most appreciated entries as being those revellers with the largest, visually impressive and most sexualised of all, like the bare-breasted, kissing and fondling Dykes on Bikes and gym-toned Marching Boys in revealing clothing. The term “participant exhibitionism and audience voyeurism” has been used by Tomsen and Markwell (2009) to describe the sexual atmosphere. SGLMG completely fits the second criteria of Goffman's (1959) playful deviance framework, since according to Tomsen and Markell (2009, p. 213 ), once the parade ends, the liminality and social license created by the occasion have different consequences and the social order reverts to its everyday mode of heterosexual hegemony; as crowds disperse, their shared purpose disintegrates.

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Protection from Social Sanction
The protection from social sanction is quite clear in this Mardi Gras. Tomsen and Marwell (2009) describes it as a relaxed collective attitude towards the breaking of conventional sexual and gender norms that is reflected in the shared celebration and pleasure. It appears that the carnivalesque atmosphere of the SGLMG allow many gay men and lesbians to collectively show their sexuality in contexts that would be likely to attract public condemnation, ridicule or abuse if done in an ad hoc or individual way (Tomsen & Markwell, 2009). In their interview of spectators, Tomsen & Markwell (2009) found mixed sentiments about the event, even though people were still keen to attend and enjoy it. Those who were ambivalent about the. SGLMG felt that the characteristics of the event challenged everyday norms of decency, decorum or ‘privacy’ and should only be allowed as exceptional thus, the social setting was viewed as belonging to an unusual occasion or locality. Considering all this, it could be said, in other words, that the social context of the parade is that the norm of open intolerance is generally suspended for a collective appreciation of a transgressive sexual display and hence the participants suffer no social sanctions (Tomsen & Markwell, 2009).

The Australian Gay and Lesbian Archives hold extensive collections relating to the Sydney gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, including records, photographs, publications, posters, artwork etc.

Submitted by Onika Henry

Kates, S. (2003). Producing and consuming gendered representations: An interpretation of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. //Consumption Markets and Culture 6 (1)//
 * References**

Tomsen, S. & Markwell, K. (2009). Violence, cultural display and the suspension of sexual prejudice. //Sexuality & Culture// 13 (4), 201