1985 Gay Mardi Gras Poster. Design Peter Tully. Photos William Yang. Copyright Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2019. Reproduced with permission.

Sydney’s Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras has seen many a battle in its lifetime. It’s baptism of fire in 1978 saw sustained police aggression and the arrest and assault of 53 men and women.  And despite there being no arrests in 1979, tensions remained high – with an emergency bail fund on hand just in case.

Even as late as 1982, with participant numbers growing significantly, organisers took the precaution of handing out guidelines on what to do in case of arrest.

And then, in 1983, a new threat emerged. The first Australian AIDS death was recorded and as numbers grew, so too did media interest.

‘The Problem’

Of course, the disease wasn’t ‘AIDS’ to the mainstream media; it was ‘the gay plague’. And the focus wasn’t on how it was impacting on the gay community. Instead it was the supposed threat that our community – assumed to be vectors of the disease – presented to ‘innocent’ people. Never was this articulated better than in the case of ‘the Queensland babies’ in November 1984.

Three babies had died after receiving blood allegedly donated by a gay man. Even if the blood had come from the man, it’s highly unlikely that he knew he was carrying the virus when he made the donation. He would have donated blood as an act of social responsibility. But to a rabid media (and even more rabid right-wing Queensland government) this was a deliberate act of contamination. And the victims of this dastardly deed were the epitome of innocence – new born babies.

Thus, the stage was set for Mardi Gras 1985…

Enter ‘the Experts’

Unsurprisingly, serial bigot Fred Nile had latched onto AIDS as another self-promotion opportunity from the outset. With his usual callous disregard for those affected by this mysterious and frightening disease he merely churned out ill-informed, moralistic sound bytes. But on this occasion he must have found himself thinking that there really was a God when support seemed to come from the most unlikely of places – the Chair of the National AIDS Task Force.

In the lead-up to the Parade and party, Professor David Penington had made a statement in which he described the party as “a Bacchanalian orgy” and advised people to be wary of engaging in sexual activities. Quite what lay behind Penington’s comments remains unclear but, given the rampant AIDS-phobia and homophobia, it was badly timed and extremely unhelpful. Except for Nile, of course, who claimed that it was support for his call for a ban on Mardi Gras – to be replaced with compulsory public lectures on AIDS!

Money Talks Louder Than Morality

But Nile wasn’t the only one who sought to capitalise on the hysteria. In late January, the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS), owners of the Sydney Showgrounds where the party was to be held, suddenly announced that the venue had been double-booked. The party was cancelled!