By Martha Jarry for Daily Mail Australia
09:09 27 February 2024, updated 09:28 27 February 2024
LGBTQI+ celebrities have hit out at the Mardis Gras board after NSW Police were banned from marching at the Sydney event for the first time in 20 years.
The decision was made following alleged murder of a gay couple in the hands of an officer.
In an Instagram post, gay singer Anthony Callea said the decision left him “saddened”.
“With so much hate, pain and division in our world right now, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Board’s decision to withdraw the invitation to the NSW Police to participate in this year’s Mardi Gras saddens me,” he wrote in part.
“History and culture are complex and no one is denying the systemic issues that have existed both past and present in relation to the LGBTQl+ community, but I truly believe there are more effective and inclusive ways to build bridges and I hope positive and a respectful decision can be made.
Bisexual actress and model Ellie Gonsalves shared a photo of herself attending an earlier Mardi Gas along with her thoughts.
“Today the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Board decided to exclude the NSW Police from this year’s parade, a decision I find extremely sad and disheartening,” she wrote.
“Sadly, the world has recently lost two beautiful men, Luke and Jesse, allegedly at the hands of a police officer and this is in relation to this tragedy.
“It is disappointing that people from the force will be removed because of the actions of one person; a man I don’t believe (and I don’t think anyone would) represents the values of what the NSW Police stand for.
Bisexual actor Hugh Sheridan said he found the decision “disheartening” in a video shared on Instagram by Empact News.
“So many of the force are part of the community and they deserve the right to grieve just like us and they deserve to have our support as they grieve,” he said.
“I feel incredibly sad that the police now have to pay,” Hugh added.
It comes after Kyle Sandilands called the move “disgusting” on Tuesday’s episode of The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
“What I don’t like is that the people who fought for inclusion are now excluding people,” before calling for the entire board to resign.
“They should all resign and hang their heads in shame,” Sandilands said.
Newsreader Brooklyn Ross also chimed in, pointing out that police were investigating the crime and had their own man in custody charged with the murder. What more do you want from the police?
“They made a big mistake here,” Kyle insisted.
The shocking step was taken by the Mardi Gras board on Monday night and this Saturday (March 2) will ban police from marching for the first time in 20 years.
The controversial decision follows the alleged deaths of two gay men at the hands of NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon.
Channel Ten presenter Jessie Baird and his new Qantas flight attendant boyfriend Luke Davies were allegedly murdered at a home in Paddington, in Sydney’s east, last week.
Mr Baird and Lamar-Condon had a brief relationship last year.
Police are desperate to find out what happened to Mr Baird and Mr Davies, who were last seen a week ago, with search sites set up in Cronulla, Newcastle and numerous dams in the Southern Plains.
Police say Lamarre-Condon, a 28-year-old senior constable, was in Newcastle on Thursday night where he cleaned out a van allegedly used to move the couple’s bodies before turning himself in on Friday in Bondi ppolice station.
Lamarre-Condon has been charged with two counts of murder and remains in custody after being denied bail.
It is understood several Mardi Gras board members disagree with the decision to disinvite NSW Police from the parade and want the decision to be reconsidered.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb, who has personally marched in the queer connections and identities parade for several years, said the decision left her “disappointed and appalled”.
“We are people, we are representatives of the community we serve and that is why we have to be there,” she told The Daily Telegraph.
“The conversations we’re having are about the under-reporting of crime in the queer community. How will this help?
Commissioner Webb described the decision as “illogical”.
“I get the disbelief and concern about this, but don’t stigmatize the entire organization because of the actions of one person,” she said.
However, the alleged murder of Baird and Davis may have been the turning point in the organizers’ decision.
Vocal pressure to remove the officers from the parade has grown in recent years, with many Mardi Gras participants believing the festival is moving away from its original purpose as a protest.
However, NSW MP Alex Greenwich believes the decision is a step in the wrong direction.
“I want the police to stand with the LGBTQ+ community every day, and that includes the Mardi Gras parade,” he said.
“There’s a lot of work to do to improve community safety, and we need to do it together.”
The shock ban came after Commissioner Webb issued a historic apology to the families of LGBTQ+ victims following Judge John Sakar’s report into police brutality and hate crimes in the 1980s and 1990s.
She met NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, Mr Greenwich and other community members earlier on Monday.
“To withdraw us.” [from Mardi Gras] based, I guess, on the actions of one person who is currently charged in court, it makes no sense to me,” Commissioner Webb said.
“I think getting over that means bringing NSW Police into Mardi Gras and saying we’re in this together based on acknowledging the pain of the past and not linking that to the matter of the ex-policeman before the court.”
Commissioner Webb also referred to NSW Police’s troubled early history with Mardi Gras parades, adding: “We have been building a bridge with the gay and lesbian community since the 78s were abused by the police back in the day.”
The first Mardi Gras in 1978 saw 53 people arrested by police and dozens more brutally assaulted and beaten by officers.
At the time, demonstrators organized Mardi Gras in hopes of decriminalizing homosexuality.
Their demands were met in 1994 with the passing of the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mardi Gras for comment.
