For years I longed to be in the Mardi Gras parade. Seeing all the floats

with people having fun and coming together as one to celebrate a common

theme. But for a young gay boy growing up in the Western Suburbs of

Sydney, this was never to become reality. I was not close to this

community, and I was ashamed of the feelings that I had. Granted, when

coming out I was one of the lucky ones. I could have not asked for more

support from my family and friends, and without their encouragement for

me to be who I am, I would most likely be a different person

Today, as a gay man, I am proud to be who I am. I am in a relationship

with the most wonderful man I could ever hope for. He truly is a

blessing from God. My choice to march this year was to not only be with

my partner, but to stand by him. I have never been a religious person,

however his journey is also my journey and I wanted to show my support

for equality and acceptance. There were points when times were tough for

him, but I didn’t want to turn my back. If this was a path which we were

going to take, I wanted to take it together.

So it is ironic that the path that was walked was right up the middle of

Oxford Street. What other way to say “I am a gay person, I choose to

love God, so love me”? Marching with my partner made me feel as though

we were taking another step together in the right direction.

Before, during and after the parade I felt one emotion – proud. Proud

for many reasons. Proud to be marching with my partner, proud to be

marching with a fantastic group of people, and proud to be marching for

such a worthwhile cause.

Yes, I am a gay man, but that doesn’t change what I want out of life. I

want to be seen as an equal, do my best to succeed and I want to be in a

monogamous relationship. I want to grow old with the one I love and

share many more experiences together.

I feel as though I am on my way to achieving all the above. Freedom

2b[e] is a part of the journey and I will embrace what it stands for.

Not only for what it can teach me, but for how it can provide support

for the one I love.

Phillip Broughton

13th March 2009

I just wanted to thank all of you for Mardi Gras

Like Phillip I had never marched before, but I’ve seen the parade a few times.

I knew that this time I wanted to be on the other side of the fence, being proud and being cheered at. And since Penny and Natasha saw my question at gaychristian.net I got a spot with all of you.

I have seldom had so much fun. You are all a great group of ppl and I’m sure that God is proud of all of us for being there that day, showing his amazing grace…

I wanna fly down next year and join you all agian then. (the flights looks like they are getting cheaper even…)

God Bless you all

Howie

One of these days, one of these days…… I will get to mardi gra and would love to march with the freedom crowd.

Dear all at Freedom2B[e].

Have a great pre-meeting tonight and the most wonderful experience in the parade tomorrow. I cannot make it this year, and I know that I will miss it very much.

AVB is spot-on when he says what you are before the parade is not what you are at the end.

I marched last year for the first time, and I have retrieved my comment as a newbie, which I did not post at the time as I was not in the forum yet.

So here it is, for all, but especially for the people marching for the first time. It’s an experience not to be missed:

‘I participated in the parade because I wanted to affirm my life, to be among friends and to feel that I belonged.

Coming up to the day, I started to feel nervous and anxious, did not know what to expect.

This was my first time and it has been an awesome experience. There was a lot of love, happiness and peace and I felt that there should be more of this in the world. I was not prepared for the impact of the crowd. There was love and goodwill flowing between the different groups, and to and from the marchers and the crowd, and the welcome and the cheers acted as validation and empowerment. It has been an experience of recognition, validation and celebration of diversity’.

Lots of love to all of you!