By Kyle Olsen and Troy MurphyThis Saturday, the members of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras will vote on a number of motions relating to the behaviour of activist group Pride In Protest.
You can view Motions 1-5 here. We have designed these to hold Pride In Protest accountable for the damage their behaviour has caused Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, its staff, board, volunteers and Parade participants.For the past week, the Star Observer has published articles in relation to these motions.
Although some of these articles may be well intentioned, unfortunately, none of them have addressed the extremely dangerous and unethical behaviour of Pride In Protest and their supporters.This includes brazen breaches of board confidentiality, misusing confidential board information to support Pride In Protest candidates in the most recent Mardi Gras board elections, breaching security at the 2020 and 2021 Parade, attacking and defaming Mardi Gras board members and staff members on social media and purposefully spreading misinformation about Mardi Gras online.You wouldn’t accept this behaviour in your own workplace and we shouldn’t accept it being done towards Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.The decision to put these motions to the members to hold Pride In Protest accountable for their actions is not about “right-wing” or “left-wing”.
This discussion is not about debating the right to protest, how Pride In Protest members identify themselves or an “obsessive hatred” for Pride In Protest, as Pride In Protest would lead you to believe.