Sydney Cricket Ground, a more controllable environment than Oxford Street, traditionally lined with some 200,000 spectators.For 78er Kate Rowe, who marched in Australia’s first major LGBTQI protest in 1978, leading to the birth of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, this year’s festive feeling is somewhat muted.“Rainbows are everywhere but no one’s really around.
It’s drained the vibe for me,” she tells Guardian Australia. Many elderly 78ers have been “sheltering”, fearful of the virus.Rowe is, however, impressed at Mardi Gras’s “fantastic effort”.78ers have double the spots of other groups, and golf buggies to circulate the stadium for those with limited mobility. “They’ve really taken care of us,” Rowe, 70, says.Similar fears deterred.