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Mardi Gras 2010 ... share your experience!

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Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
March 4, 2010, 11:01

thanks hereiam……you shared this so beautifully and powerfully. People dont really get what the parade is all about untill they experience it for themselves. Your insights here show so wonderfully why we do this year after year……we do it for the first-timers

Pea Jay
 
Joined in 2010
March 4, 2010, 17:28

Hi all,


I’d just like to thank everyone for being very friendly to this newbie, my name is Peter but most friends call me Pj, it was my first time marching in the parade. I had a good time, it was amazing to see how many people turned out to cheer everyone on. I suppose as a first timer, I was a tad overwhelmed by the massive crowd, I was thinking about my journey that my life has been. Its been a struggle but here I was walking up Oxford street as a survivor.

Thanks again.


Pj

Ann Maree
 
Joined in 2008
March 4, 2010, 18:04

Hi hereiam


You said:


” Our numbers should have been more, But we had lost people on this journey. Suicide, depression, bullying, isolation, traditions. Many years of hurt and neglect had taken its toll. How many more lives would be lost before “Christians” realise that its not a closed book on the topic. How many more people should have been marching beside me but instead their life had been cut short. People need to open a dialogue and their minds to what God is really saying about love and acceptance. We are ready to talk, to share, to guide them on the journey. They need to make the second move and open their doors and their hearts to the possibilities, We have already made the first move. Its time now for them to step up to the plate.”


I love what you’ve written here. It’s very powerful to think that mardi gras gives an opportunity for people in and beyond our community to love one another. It also invites the church to catch up with the rest of the world in this.


I was really encouraged after seeing journalist, Steve Price, on the 7pm project. He was initially skeptical about mardi gras, making disparaging comments beforehand about the money spent on it. So the show assigned him to go and report on the event. While at mardi gras, he spoke with a wide cross section of people and seemed to visibly soften. I think he was really moved by it and now says he will march next year if he can have his own float! He may have been half joking but I wouldn’t be surprised if the show follows through with making that happen.


It’s good to be part of things outside our comfort zones and know we can change for the better.


Blessings,


Ann Maree

Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
March 4, 2010, 19:32

yep…..another example of what often say……;peoples criticisms of the parade are frequently based on perceptions from a distance. There was an interesting letter in the Sydney Star Observer this week. Someone as a gay observer of the parade made a very different observation.. http://www.starobserver.com.au/letters/2010/03/02/letters-17/22307


WHAT ABOUT US?

NSW Police Force, Australian Federal Police, Walkers for Medical Marijuana Now!, Legal Aid NSW/Inner City Legal Centre, NSW Fire Brigades, NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service, Family Planning NSW, Black Dog Institute (headed by Jeff Kennett who confuses homosexuality with pedophilia), NSW Women’s Refuge Movement, State Transit Authority, Kirketon Road Centre, Railcorp, Climate Action Newtown & Friends, Taronga Zoo, ANZ, Virgin Blue and Foxtel may be “gay-friendly” organisations and businesses, but they do not contribute to gay lifestyle and culture.

Why were they represented in the Mardi Gras parade? Has Mardi Gras lost the plot or have I lost the point?

— Ron

Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
March 4, 2010, 19:38

Hi all,


I’d just like to thank everyone for being very friendly to this newbie, my name is Peter but most friends call me Pj, it was my first time marching in the parade. I had a good time, it was amazing to see how many people turned out to cheer everyone on. I suppose as a first timer, I was a tad overwhelmed by the massive crowd, I was thinking about my journey that my life has been. Its been a struggle but here I was walking up Oxford street as a survivor.

Thanks again.


Pj


hey Pj……so great to have you with us…and share the wonderful moment/moments……a night to remember……yeah to the survivors. Would love you to share your journey with us if you feel comfortable doing that.


http://www.freedom2b.org/forum/13

Ann Maree
 
Joined in 2008
March 4, 2010, 19:59

Welcome PJ! Glad you enjoyed the march. 🙂


Hope to hear more from you,


Ann Maree

oooooo
 
Joined in 2006
March 4, 2010, 21:25

very well written HEREIAM.


and PJ, hope to see you again next year.

DavidLG
Event Coordinator
Joined in 2009
March 6, 2010, 18:39

Mard iGra was an awesome, fun and life changing experience.


They said u wont be the same afterwards and its true. This time last year i was trying to decrease my same sex attraction, getting the nerves to do “counselling” and never would have though 12 months later id march in the gay and lesbian mard igras as someone not ashamed of beign gay and not ashamed of being Christian. I had always seen this parade as evil and as somethign that grieves the heart of my God.


What one heck of a turnaround!!! I, and u and we R SURVIVORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


I have already told my mum, brother, and a outed myself to a mate from church, who is a ocker mach o male type about mardi gra and me marching in it. LOL im a tragic but i wore my rainbow band on my arm unashamedly all weekend around Sydney.


MG 2010 made me proud t o be diferent, proud t obe a christian and reinforced in me that I am as good as anyone else, that we r not freaks, that im not alone in my journey and have wonderful supoort.


For me it had been a blessing. Making me more bold to stand up for truth, for wat i beielved in and to be me and not be ashamed of it or be initmidated by others think or how they put me down.


The camradrie of the Freedom 2 be was amazing and i met some incredible people. Having been on similar journeys being around for such an night , the fellowship and encouragement was unforgettable.


Initally i was fearful after i registerd and nervous as i got up saturday morning but that sooned turned to excitrement.

Knowing i no longer have to struggle with something i dont need to to struggle with and having great suppoort around me , i had the a undescribale, feeling as i marched out on my first mard i gra. It seemd surreal lol. I sound crzy but am trying to describe the best way i cxan, its hard.


The buzz i got from stepping out onto oxford st and the crowds and cheering and the reception we got was incredible. The atmosphere of the nite was soemthign t o be remembered. Before we marched i had so many people asking me questions about my t shirt and “ex gay survivors. The opportunity t omeet and speak witth a range of peeople was facinating.

As soon as they r available i am registering for mardi gra 2010 🙂


Thank you Anthony, Ben, Linda , Michelle and Becky and the rest of the team at Freedom 2 BE for making me feel very welcome and making my first mardi gra a great expereince and also for helping me connect my faith and sexuality.


It was a privlidge to carry that banner for the duration of the parade, my arms ached but man it was worth it.


I encourage anyone reading this who has never marched to DO SO. U wont regret it. It will have impact on you and strengthen you to to be who r really are so u can impact others.


Also, Im thankful to my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for without u im nothing. Knowing that i maccepted by you and have you as my Heavenly Father , I thank you for being with me on this road, in the hard times and the good.


lol now im waiting for a nice bf to come along and join me in this thign called life


GBU all

Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
March 7, 2010, 00:20

that is absolutely fantastic topgun…..we never really know all that is going on for people who march till they write wonderful entries like this ….it makes it all worth it.


this is the fourth year now….and afterwards I wonder if we should do it again……then this. I think about 80% of those with us this year were doing it for the first time……it would have been criminal to rob them of this experience.


Gave me goose bumps reading some posts here.

iplantolive
 
Joined in 2008
March 7, 2010, 22:37

yep…..another example of what often say……;peoples criticisms of the parade are frequently based on perceptions from a distance. There was an interesting letter in the Sydney Star Observer this week. Someone as a gay observer of the parade made a very different observation.. http://www.starobserver.com.au/letters/2010/03/02/letters-17/22307


WHAT ABOUT US?

NSW Police Force, Australian Federal Police, Walkers for Medical Marijuana Now!, Legal Aid NSW/Inner City Legal Centre, NSW Fire Brigades, NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service, Family Planning NSW, Black Dog Institute (headed by Jeff Kennett who confuses homosexuality with pedophilia), NSW Women’s Refuge Movement, State Transit Authority, Kirketon Road Centre, Railcorp, Climate Action Newtown & Friends, Taronga Zoo, ANZ, Virgin Blue and Foxtel may be “gay-friendly” organisations and businesses, but they do not contribute to gay lifestyle and culture.

Why were they represented in the Mardi Gras parade? Has Mardi Gras lost the plot or have I lost the point?

— Ron


These organisations mentioned above may not contribute directly to gay lifestyle, but in terms of culture, I believe they (and other organisations which have embraced a gay-friendly culture) can play a very important role in creating a healthy working environment for all LGBT people that is not only free of discrimination and harrassment, but opens doors for connection and dialogue with other people who understand the dynamics of sexual orientation.


No, Mardi Gras has not lost the plot at all.
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