THE LGBQT+ COMMUNITY PRESENCE IN SYDNEY

Sydney is a very welcoming and safe place for the LGBQT+ community. In fact, it is one of the most ‘gay-friendly’ cities in the world. I wasn’t aware of this when I first arrived in Sydney, but I began to see a huge support of the community through flags, advertisements, and events. There is an annual pride parade and festival in Sydney called the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. This year was the 42nd annual Mardi Gras and the celebrations began on February 14th and ended March 1st. The parade took place this year on February 29th. I unfortunately did not attend because I had previous plans, but some of my friends attended and it looked like a lot of fun. It was really cool to see so many public displays of support for the community. The city really transformed for the 3 week duration of Mardi Gras. You definetly won't see anything like this in other places of the world.

A beautiful display that I saw at Bondi Junction, a major shopping center

A LGBQT+ flag replaced the usual UNSW flag during Mardi Gras

Buildings lit up at Darling Harbour

The stairway at UNSW

On their way to the 42nd annual Mardi Gras pride parade located in the CBD of Sydney