From Tamworth to Oxford Street: pride members showcase regional LGBTIQA+

This will be the pride group's second appearance at Sydney's Mardi Gras parade held on Saturday, March 2, and they have pulled out all the stops.

Tamworth Pride Inc. president William Weller said they were extremely excited to return to Oxford Street and showcase the North West region once again.

"We did not think we would get in again as there was a lot of competition for the spot," he said.

"It feels great to bring more diversity and show Tamworth in a way we have not before."

Thanks to a $5000 grant, the costs of the float have been lowered, enabling the group to reduce fees for the 50 participants to $25.

The 2024 Mardi Gras theme is 'Our Future', Mr Weller said. The committee decided that the float concept would be based on the metamorphosis process a butterfly goes through.

"We thought about how we equate that to the process members of the LGBTIQA+ community go through when they are ready to come out and be who they are," he said.

"It's a kind of transformation process, and everything kind of changes. We wanted to encapsulate that and show a lot more diversity this year."

The group is stepping away from the country town theme the group had last year, and showing Tamworth in a new light.

"There are not just country people here, there are people here who are accepting and loving of each other," Mr Weller said.

The group has built their float on a ute this year, having learned from previous year's hiccups when the car did not turn over at the start of the parade.

Mr Weller said it was important for people to remember that Mardi Gras was still a protest.

"With us being as visible as we are, it is a protest that we are going to be who we are and shows that we are not going to hide," he said.

One chilly night in 1978, June 24, a brave group of queer activists and LGBTIQA+ community members, 500 strong, gathered in Taylors Square around 10pm at the far end of Oxford Street in Sydney.

The night started similarly to many Mardi Gras in the years to come. There was dancing and music, and some were rugged up and others were in colourful costumes.

The crowd followed a yellow truck down Oxford Street, and there was a sense of pride in the air.

Soon, the truck and crowd would be led off route by police, and that was when the brutality began.

Officers began attacking and arresting the partygoers. In total, 53 people were arrested, and many of them were brutally bashed at the Darlinghurst Police station.

That brutal and violent night transformed Australia's LGBTIQA+ history and would ripple out to regional communities across the country.

Mr Weller said LGBTIQA+ communities are normal people who want to have families and live their daily lives like anyone else.

"People are not going to come out if they do not feel like there is support there," he said.

"We are just regular people who want the same things as everyone else, and the more we can keep showing that through these events, it creates less fear."