Is the Mardi Gras more party than politics?

Mardi Gras is popular, entertaining and profitable despite a few financial difficulties a few years ago that seem to be behind it. But its gay political activism looks to have morphed into something closer to civic managerialism and boosterism. Police and council permission are needed to run the parade. When you need permission and assistance, you need to do things in an orderly manner. When you need sponsorship and media coverage, and have to accommodate for the young children in the audience, you want to keep the overt sexuality.

Sydney also needs its Mardi Gras. It’s one of the city’s major tourism drawcards. The authorities have a vested economic interest in its health: if Mardi Gras goes under, both Australia’s tourism market and Sydney’s cosmopolitan image in a globalised world suffer.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. The more people who watch Mardi Gras, the more publicity gay issues get. Many of the floats are witty and entertaining. There are still ample opportunities to get messages across in innovative and bold ways.

For many gays, though, there’s little incentive to devote their own time and effort to gay political causes. Indeed, the appeal of Sydney’s gay heartland around Oxford Street has diminished, along with that for the gay “scene”, that’s rife with drugs and various social pressures. Changing attitudes, especially within younger generations, have combined with rising property prices and shifting entertainment patterns to reduce the appeal of joining the “gay community”.

In its place, individualism has triumphed. Openly gay men and women now feel more comfortable living in different places and doing different things. Arguably, this reconciling of individualism with being openly gay within society represents the achievement of one of the ultimate aims of the gay liberation movement.

All this aside, though, Sydney’s Mardi Gras is still the big annual community party for gays, and its popularity is likely to continue. Perhaps it’s just about partying now; another big after-party on the Gay calendar and a spectacle for all of Sydney to revel in.

While plenty of gay political fights remain, maybe Mardi Gras isn’t the most effective way to achieve them. But despite all the commercialisation and marketing, it speaks volumes about our society that this parade has become so popular. It’s an annual ritual that Sydney loves.