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Athletes in the LGBTQI Mardi Gras

March 12, 2019 By SOCRATES 2 Comments Filed Under: Favourite photos

The central theme of this years Sydney LGBTQI Mardi Gras was “Fearless.” What a great theme. The Australian LGBQTI community’s night of nights conjures a huge range of intense emotions from participants, supporters and observers alike… and the joy that flows from the demonstrated fearlessness of the community is the emotion that seems the most palpable to me! No sub-division within the community demonstrates more “fearlessness” than its athletes do. Queer athletes not only experience homophobic taunts while participating in the sports that they love but they are sometimes not even taken terribly seriously by individuals and groups one would normally consider supporters of those who identify as queer. There are plenty who roll their eyes when a young gay athlete confesses to be a passionate rugby player, hockey player or water polo player.

Being an LGBTQI athlete is fun but not funny

Convicts Rugby is fearless!

One popular Radio National broadcaster recently interviewed a group of Argentinian dancers as part of his program. When one of the dancers (an openly gay young guy) explained that his background, before dance, was in playing rugby, the broadcaster laughed. I suppose he thought that rugby and being gay don’t mix. He should explain that to the Melbourne Chargers or Sydney Convicts rugby players. Even one of the SBS hosts of the Mardi Gras parade seemed a little less than impressed when floats of LGBTI sporting organisations went by the SBS commentary point.  

No less than twenty-one sporting clubs and groups took part in this years Mardi Gras Parade. Queer athletes stood up by the hundreds to demonstrate pride in their community and to represent their clubs and sports on the big night. Rugby, AFL, netball, general fitness, rowing, wrestling, roller-derby, skating, NRL, water polo, swimming, surf lifesaving and other sports participants marched to show that gay athletes are an important part of the sporting and LGBTQI communities. In a world where people who identify as queer have been, historically, excluded from the things that “normal” folk do (marriage for example) or discriminated against when they try, it is great to see sports lovers and their clubs proudly proclaiming that they are gay and that they are athletes! It was great to see so many queer athletes celebrating their love of sport and the inclusiveness of their sporting communities!

Check out some of Australia’s LGBTI athletes marching on Mardi Gras night. Thanks to the Mardi Gras organizers for granting permission to show these images and congratulations to Jeffrey Feng for his outstanding camera work. A list of the twenty-one clubs that proudly marched is provided at the end.   

Adelaide women’s football supporters group – the Crows supporters in the colours of the rainbow!
Fitness Fairies are ready to party!
Women and men of Surf Life Saving Australia are out and proud and inclusive!
Another fabulous fitness loving group are the men and women of WOD OUT.
AFL women were supporting Mardi Gras in numbers.
More of Mardi Gras life-saving heroes.
The Surry Hills Netball Club have been supporting and celebrating the LBGTQI sporting community for years!
Those women of the AFL were everywhere and rocking.
Were there are more handsome and gnarly looking bunch of blokes on parade than the mighty Melbourne Chargers rugby blokes?
Sydney Frontrunners running group stood up for serious and social runners alike at the Mardi Gras parade.
Some of the most fearless LGBTQI athletes come from the mighty Bentstix Hockey Club
It’s the Chargers rugby folk at it again ably assisted by the mighty Perth Rams!
Care for a wrestle? The characters from the Sydney Silverbacks are always up for a scrap
The Bentstix crew clearly forgot their sticks.
Swans supporters love to be part of the parade
Water polo lovers came from all over the country and included the incredible Brisbane Tritons.
Melbourne Surge water polo players also made the trek to Oxford Street to march with the Tritons and the Sydney Stingers
Team Sydney is a non-discriminatory club supporting a range of sports and open to members from all kinds of backgrounds and abilities. Team Sydney members were resplendent at Mardi Gras in their rainbow speedos.
Convicts players love their rugby… and their team mates too!
The NRL were one of the first major sporting bodies to demonstrate their support for inclusiveness through participating in Mardi Gras
The Team Sydney float made a splash
Skaters, roller derby champions and roller hockey players impressed with their athleticism at the march
Tennis Sydney forsook the colours of the rainbow in favour of traditional tennis whites
Convicts are not only expert scrummagers, ruckers and lineout jumpers they can dance a bit too!
Luckily the streets of Sydney have reasonable paving. If you tried this in Byron Bay you would end up in the bottom of a huge pot hole
Tennis Sydney on parade
Rugby and inclusiveness are almost synonymous these days… thanks to many, including the Convicts. Shame that there are still a few dissenters.
The mighty Sydney Stingers welcomed their Melbourne and Brisbane buddies, the Tritons and Surge
The Sydney swimming club, the Wett Ones, are always ready to promote the value and coolness of competitive swimming
Bugger. I couldn’t find a Mardi Gras parade shot of the Different Strokes Dragon boat crew but they look impressive in this shot anyway
Chicks from the Street Roller Hockey Chicks Club partying after the parade
Some mighty Wett Ones… looking ready for a race

Many thanks to Mardi Gras for allowing us to reproduce these images… and special thanks and congratulations to Jeffrey Feng (of Jeffrey Feng Photography) for his magnificent camera work! 

  Sporting clubs and associations that marched in this years Mardi Gras Parade were…

Women in AFL – AFL without agenda!

Lifesavers with Pride – Creating proud beaches across the country.

Bentstix Hockey Club – Fearless hockey champions.

Different Strokes Dragonboat Club – Fearless freakshow.

Sydney Frontrunners – Fit, fabulous and fearless since the 80’s.

Team Sydney Sports – Making a splash.

National Rugby League – NRL Pride in League.

WOD OUT Proud – Empowering our community through fitness. Let’s get physical!

Sydney Stingers Waterpolo Club – Sydney Stingers.

Melbourne Surge Waterpolo.

Brisbane Tritons – Make a splash.

Street Roller Hockey Chicks Club – We’ve bin chicken you out.

Queer Derby – Flight of the skater.

Sydney Swans – Everyone is welcome at the footy.

Sydney Convicts Rugby Union Club – Game changers!

Surry Hills Netball Club

Wett Ones Sydney LGBT + Swimming Club – Swim like a girl.

Rainbow Crows Supporters Group.

Sydney Silverbacks (Harbour City wrestling Club) – The wrestlers of Oz.

The Fitness Fairies – Fearless fairies.

Tennis Sydney – Celebrating 30 years of Australian Gay and Lesbian Open.

Melbourne Chargers RUFC – Celebrating 10 years of gay rugby.

Perth Rams Rugby Union Football Club

SOCRATES

Short, fat, slow, uncoordinated and clumsy, ancient Athenian Socrates had very few of the physical quality required of the elite athlete. He did have, on the other hand, a better than average brain between his ears and a mouth that could talk opposing players, referees and coaches half into their graves. Socrates, as a sport analyst, is what the world needs and misses. He is an opinionated so-and-so that actually thinks deeply about sport and adventuring and likes nothing better than provoking others into deep thought. Socrates is the antithesis of the sporting jock or the West Sydney soccer supporter.

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Tagged With: AFL, crows, fearless, hockey, inclusion, LGBTQI, mardi gras, NRL, Roller derby, rugby, skating, Swans, swimming, water polo

Comments

  1. Silas Palmer says

    March 13, 2019 at 8:34 am

    Heya! Don’t forget that the Perth Rams – a new inclusive rugby club that only began last year – shared the stage with the Melbourne Chargers for their first Mardi Gras. We couldn’t register both clubs under the same name, but both clubs were wel represented.

    Reply
    • TIMOTHY EDWARDS says

      May 15, 2019 at 3:43 am

      Thanks Silas. Yeah. It took me a while to cotton on to the Rams role. Sorry about that. Will have to give the Rams a plug of some sort in the near future! Don’t know if you have seen the story “Letter to Alan”. Maybe some of your players will have known people like the young bloke in the story. Hope the Rams are having a brilliant season.

      Reply

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