{"id":508641,"date":"2026-02-28T00:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T00:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508641\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T00:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T00:55:13","slug":"how-the-amazing-pretzel-will-help-scott-march-in-sydneys-iconic-mardi-gras-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508641\/","title":{"rendered":"How the ‘amazing’ Pretzel will help Scott march in Sydney’s iconic Mardi Gras parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scott Dixon-Smith, who is blind, will be marching with new-found confidence in tonight’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, thanks to his guide dog, Pretzel.<\/p>\n

Pretzel has been assisting Mr Dixon-Smith for more than a year and this will be his first time at the parade.<\/p>\n

“It just felt like a natural thing to do,” Mr Dixon-Smith said.<\/p>\n

“What a great way to demonstrate to others how easy it is and how effortless it can be with a guide dog \u2026 he’s just amazing.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pretzel will enjoy the march but won’t attend the after-party, as it may be too overwhelming.\u00a0 (ABC Radio Sydney: Isabella Michie)<\/p>\n

Mr Dixon-Smith will pack a bag full of Pretzel’s favourite treats, including kangaroo and chicken tenderloin, along with extra water, to ensure he is well cared for during the march.<\/p>\n

“I am not worried,” Mr Dixon-Smith said.<\/p>\n

“However, I am familiar with the signs and if it looks like he is getting stressed out, we will take some time away.”<\/p>\n

After years of hiding his sexuality, Mr Dixon-Smith never thought he would be marching in a pride parade in front of thousands.<\/p>\n

“But when I walked through the closet door, I closed it and never looked back,” he said.<\/p>\n

The pair will be marching with Guide Dogs NSW\/ACT and Pretzel will wear a special harness so he can easily be seen by the crowd.<\/p>\n

‘Like Pac-Man eating up retinal cells’<\/p>\n

Mr Dixon-Smith was 20 and studying at Westminster College in the US on a sports scholarship when he suddenly started missing tennis balls.<\/p>\n

His coach thought he was just being lazy.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Scott Dixon-Smith was born in the US but moved to Australia after meeting his husband, Geoffery. (ABC Radio Sydney: Isabella Michie)<\/p>\n

“He said, ‘Stop trying to give them points. Let’s get it done.’ And I said, ‘I wasn’t trying to give him points,'” Mr Dixon-Smith said.<\/p>\n

“All of that led to more serious conversations.”<\/p>\n

After multiple consultations with various doctors, Mr Dixon-Smith was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative disease that slowly takes away vision, in 1979.<\/p>\n

“[It’s] kind of like a little Pac-Man running around and eating up the retinal cells,” he said.<\/p>\n

After his diagnosis, Mr Dixon-Smith shifted away from a career in professional tennis and later took a marketing role at IBM.<\/p>\n

Accepting of blindness but not sexuality<\/p>\n

Accessibility in corporate America was “pretty challenging” in the 1980s, but Mr Dixon-Smith’s workplace made adjustments to accommodate his level of vision at the time.<\/p>\n

“They took all my course materials and they increased the font size. The colour of the page, they dimmed it to make it easier [to read],” he said.<\/p>\n

His colleagues accepted his disability, but Mr Dixon-Smith felt he had to keep his sexuality a secret.<\/p>\n

“I knew at the time going into corporate America, it wasn’t something that was readily approved of,” he said.<\/p>\n

After hearing derogatory comments towards gay people made by his colleagues, Mr Dixon-Smith decided to create two lives \u2014 personal and professional.<\/p>\n

“It just kind of put me on notice that I need to keep things to myself \u2026 and to suppress any of that [sexuality] because, I mean, that’s just where it was back in the day,” he said.<\/p>\n

That changed when Mr Dixon-Smith decided to start his own company.<\/p>\n

“When somebody would ask me if I were married or if I was dating, I would let them know \u2014 ‘Yes, and his name is so-and-so,'” he said.<\/p>\n

“I felt good about that \u2026 If somebody else has an issue with that, that issue belongs to them, not to me.”<\/p>\n

Navigating with ‘the greatest of ease’<\/p>\n

By the time he was 40, Mr Dixon-Smith had completely lost his vision.<\/p>\n

He considered a guide dog but did not have a spare eight weeks to dedicate to training.<\/p>\n

“I had just started my software company \u2026 it just wasn’t something that was in the cards at that point,” Mr Dixon-Smith said.<\/p>\n

As work demands eased, he decided to seek training to help improve his use of a cane. A mobility instructor suggested he consider a guide dog.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Scott Dixon-Smith says Pretzel has made him feel able to go out and explore his neighbourhood independently. (ABC Radio Sydney: Isabella Michie)<\/p>\n

In September 2024, Mr Dixon-Smith met Pretzel and the connection was instant.<\/p>\n

“You cannot even begin to imagine the amazing difference it has made in my life,” Mr Dixon-Smith said.<\/p>\n

After more than 30 years, he folded up his cane and swapped it for the harness of his new best mate.<\/p>\n

“I had no hesitation. I grabbed the harness and off I went. I thought ‘OMG’ \u2014 you could not take the smile off my face,” Mr Dixon-Smith said.<\/p>\n

Before getting Pretzel, he would never go for a walk down the street by himself.<\/p>\n

“Now with Pretzel, he and I glide down to the wharf,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We just do it on our own, which is great. It’s amazing \u2014 we navigate escalators [and] stairs with the greatest of ease.”No more barriers<\/p>\n

Pretzel and Mr Dixon-Smith’s next outing will be marching in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on Oxford Street tonight.<\/p>\n

“I hope it gives them [parade attendees] the opportunity to say, ‘Hey I’d like to talk to him’, because I would love for anybody to reach out to me and I welcome that conversation,” Mr Dixon-Smith said.<\/p>\n

“I have never allowed my disability to define me. I think that’s important.”\"A<\/p>\n

Scott Dixon-Smith it felt like a “weight had been lifted” when he came out. (ABC Radio Sydney: Isabella Michie)<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his closeted days hustling in the corporate world, Mr Dixon-Smith is proud of how far he has come in expressing who he is.<\/p>\n

“I could never imagine this [marching in a pride parade],” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Dixon-Smith hopes he will motivate others with vision impairment to take a greater part in community events.<\/p>\n

“There should never be a barrier and we should be proud of who we are,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The only barrier is the one we set for ourselves \u2014 and we are better than that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scott Dixon-Smith, who is blind, will be marching with new-found confidence in tonight’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[162387,64,63,17956,40674,255110,40675,255111,16726,255113,255112,105,85738],"class_list":{"0":"post-508641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-assistance-dogs","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-blind","12":"tag-blindness","13":"tag-guide-dogs","14":"tag-low-vision","15":"tag-mard-gras","16":"tag-pride","17":"tag-pride-parade","18":"tag-sydney-gay-and-lesbian-mardi-gras-parade","19":"tag-technology","20":"tag-vision-impairment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}