{"id":778350,"date":"2026-07-04T10:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/778350\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T10:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T10:40:16","slug":"sydney-gay-and-lesbian-mardi-gras-board-members-booted-amid-factional-infighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/778350\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board members booted amid factional infighting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kayla<\/p>\n

Updated July 4, 2026 \u2014 7:04pm,first published 4:14pm<\/p>\n

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A fight for control of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has resulted in a fiery extraordinary general meeting, which booted two directors off the board.<\/p>\n

Tensions flared inside Harold Holt Community Centre on Saturday morning as a fractured membership decided the fate of four board directors. Some members were swearing, jeering and trading barbs before two hecklers were eventually kicked out.<\/p>\n

\"SpectatorsSpectators cheering at Sydney\u2019s 2026 Mardi Gras parade in February.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

Left-wing activist group Pride in Protest called the meeting to eliminate two board directors from its opposing faction, Protect Mardi Gras, following months of feuding. Two Mardi Gras members then moved to eliminate Pride in Protest\u2019s two board directors.<\/p>\n

In the end, the majority of members voted to immediately remove Pride in Protest\u2019s Luna Choo and Damien Nguyen and voted to retain Protect Mardi Gras\u2019 Mits Delisle and Kathy Pavlich.<\/p>\n

Pride in Protest\u2019s campaigns often oppose Mardi Gras decisions \u2013 deeming them not progressive enough \u2013 and have raised the ire of many members, prompting some to form Protect Mardi Gras.<\/p>\n

Transgender rights are a particular flashpoint. Despite most members agreeing on their importance, as well as other LGBTQ+ rights, the two groups diverge on to how the organisation should promote that agenda.<\/p>\n

\"PridePride in Protest\u2019s Damien Nguyen (left) and Luna Choo have lost their seats on the Mardi Gras board.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s vote followed a contentious annual meeting in November, when members voted to pass a resolution to encourage all Mardi Gras \u201cparade participants to make support for transgender rights a key part of their float\u201d.<\/p>\n

The board decided against implementing members\u2019 wishes<\/a> because it \u201csought to impose creative direction on parade participants in a way that is inconsistent with our established application process\u201d, among other reasons.<\/p>\n

Pride in Protest, in response, accused the organisation of being transphobic and put the resolution to a vote once again on Saturday. Protect Mardi Gras put forward the same motion, minus the float recommendation.<\/p>\n

A majority of members voted to pass Protect Mardi Gras\u2019 motion, while Pride in Protest\u2019s resolution was dismissed.<\/p>\n

Members took turns passionately speaking for and against both motions, often met with jeers from a portion of the crowd that disagreed.<\/p>\n

One member took to the stage and said: \u201cHopefully this is the last time we hear from PiP [Pride in Protest],\u201d and received a round of applause. When Nguyen was removed as a board member, a third of the crowd stood up and began cheering.<\/p>\n

One member yelled: \u201cBye, Felicia,\u201d referencing an internet meme.<\/p>\n

In the lead-up to the meeting, a board feud erupted between Pavlich and Delisle on one side and Choo and Nguyen on the other. After the board decided not to implement November\u2019s motions, <\/a>the co-chairs and activists attempted to censure each other.<\/p>\n

In February, Pride in Protest\u2019s float was kicked out of the Mardi Gras parade<\/a>, less than 24 hours before the event, after claiming that a Jewish float supported genocide.<\/p>\n

\"GossamerGossamer flings on the Mardi Gras parade in February.Audrey Richardson<\/p>\n

The activists had failed to reply to a formal warning issued the day before.<\/p>\n

Following Saturday\u2019s meeting, Nguyen said: \u201cThere was a lot of emotion today, [but the] outcome was a clear development in the fight for transgender rights, both in this state and in Mardi Gras.\u201d<\/p>\n

Choo added: \u201cThere is the Mardi Gras membership that we would see in general meetings, and then there is Mardi Gras on the streets, where people take to the streets and continue their proud tradition of fighting for our equal rights \u2026 and that will continue forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Board<\/a><\/p>\n

A co-founder of Protect Mardi Gras, Peter Stahel, said he was upset about the effect of the feuding but that the members ultimately voted for inclusion.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers voted decisively to remove two Pride in Protest directors. We take no pleasure in that, and we don\u2019t believe members did either,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that progress is won by building the largest and most powerful possible alliances \u2026 Pride in Protest has got a long history of meeting motions to ban councillors, ban politicians, ban military, ban the police, and we think that weakens us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a board statement following the outcome, Mardi Gras said it recognised that the meeting and its surrounding debate pointed \u201cto a need for change within the organisation, regardless of the result of any individual resolution \u2026 The board will treat this as a mandate to strengthen governance and trust with members\u201d.<\/p>\n

For Andrew Nissen, a Mardi Gras member since 2021 who is not affiliated with either faction, now more than ever the membership and community need to stick together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that some of the motions had a danger of fracturing the community and splintering us, so I\u2019m broadly in support of everything that occurred today, but I hope that the organisation and the community can stick together for the future,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"KaylaKayla Olaya<\/a> is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated July 4, 2026 \u2014 7:04pm,first published 4:14pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-778350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778350","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=778350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}