In the beginning there was bigotry, hatred and darkness. And God being a gay man trapped in the body of an out of work drag queen that she was, said, “let there be light”. And behold there was light. And She looked at the brightness and thought how dull it looked, so She divided the light into seven beautiful colours and She called it ‘Freedom’.
When She had finished this She decided to party across the seas and created Oz.
Most of us know something about the land called Oz. There was a movie based on this land with a girl called Dorothy and she had a dog called Toto. The Oz we want to talk about here has nothing to do with the movie even though it has plenty to do with the friends of Dorothy.
Dorothy’s friends set out each year on a pilgrimage to Oz to celebrate under thousands and thousands of manufactured rainbows.
God being the benevolent entity that she was separated the waters to create a natural Harbour and to celebrate this auspicious event she devised a series of parties that she called Mardi Gras.
Later in history this venue became known to the world as Sydney, the Home of the Olympic Gods.
And God looked down on what She had created and said “Bona”
And after all this God inadvertently ate an illegal substance which prompted her to fashion out of lycra a man made in Her own image and She named him Adam.
Adam was a circuit party queen with bulging muscles and a predisposition for being called Mary. All his friends knew him as Dora Bubble (a derivative of the word adorable).
And Adam minced upon the earth in search of something that God had forgotten to give him, so he placed an advertisement in a personal column and found Steve.
Adam and Steve liked dressing in leather, sequins and other stretchy fabrics. They enjoyed makeup and cruising in the Gardens that God had created for them. But this was not enough.
One day Adam and Steve packed all that they had purchased into a trolley dolly bag with wheels and they set forth on a flying kangaroo named QANTAS (which is an acronym for Queers and Nellies Travelling Abroad Stylishly). Packed liked Joeys into an economy sized pouch for what seemed like six months and eating all that was provided in packets (because they both like packets) they eventually arrived at the earlier created Oz
And with them in that economy sized pouch was Millie Mopp and Her Mopp Posse armed with lilly white skin and a strong pound. All booked into Wentworth Avenue at a plush apartment with stunning views of the Mardi Gras starting area. And so the story begins. It is the 24th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras……
Saturday 3rd March 2001, and bodies start to surface at the Wentworth Detention Centre. We have been partying all week and today sees the culmination of months of preparation for the Mardi Gras parade and dance party on both Our parts and that of the local queer community. We spent the day preparing ourselves for the evenings festivities, dilemmas over party outfits are put to sleep once and for all. Decisions are made as to where we shall varda the parade from, what food should be consumed to fuel our bodies for the the next 24hrs, and most importantly, what order shall we take our locally purchased recreationals in; at $50 dollars a go, we had to get the combination right!
The atmosphere on Oxford St, the heart of Sydney’s gay quarter, can only be described as electric.
The anticipation in the air fed you like no bowl of complex carbohydrates ever could, at points it was like being in Compton St on a Saturday afternoon, albeit a busy one, but transferred to the Southern Hemisphere!
Shit, showered and shaved, we descend upon Oxford St just before the parade begins. Nothing, but nothing, can prepare for you the site that greets you. They have come from the Sydney suburbs, interstate, and all corners of the globe.
Between 400 000 and 500 000 souls all decided to witness the event and squeezed themselves as close as possible to the barriers lining the route from central Sydney to The Fox Studios, site of the post parade party.
A banner with the immortal words “God Forgive Sydney” greets the first of the 175 floats taking part, a few lost souls in a sea of a few hundred thousand hedonistic ones! And being the equality-seeking people that we are, the God squad was embraced with queer love and tolerance.
The lead float, ‘Beyond the Pink Picket Fence’, hammered home the family message surrounded by giant flamingos carrying babies in their beaks, a taste of all that is political and a precursor of many of the issues that were being paraded.
Groups as diverse as ‘Children of the Rainbow’, a challenge on views of the family, to ‘Sweeties for a Treaty’, a call for a treaty between Aboriginal Australians and the Federal Government were clearly evident.
One of the highlights that stunned the crowd as it passed, was The Mardi Gras marching boys, girls, drag kings and drag queens who performed a spectacular and rigorous routine to Madonna’s ‘Music’, a feast for the eyes of a DQOD (Drag Queen Off Duty). The roar of approval from the crowd along the route fed the parade participants constantly, like no injection of amphetamine ever could.
We watched the parade on Moore Park Drive, near to the seating stands that raise thousands of dollars for the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, the Australian equivalent of THT.
They kept coming in their hundreds, proud of their sexuality, celebrating with pride the uniqueness of this legendary event. Groups from all over the globe were there representing a global unity that belongs solely to Sydney.
Having feasted our eyes on this orgy of glitz and glamour, we head toward Fox Studios, our own little Shangri La for the next 12hrs, clutching our much coveted dance party tickets. Housed at the former Agricultural Show Grounds, and now home to cinemas and restaurants, we troll through the turnstiles to be confronted by a working drag queen. She was sat above us, seated like an umpire at Wimbledon, clutching her microphone whilst instructing Madonna to go to dressing room B and Jennifer Lopez to collect her supper from her mother who was at the front gate. The rumours as to who the surprise guest every year are rife. Sadly, we are still waiting for our leader to reward us.
We head straight to the Royal Hall of Industries (RHI), the main dance arena where my younger niece, Wayne G, will be closing the evening’s festivities. Already the atmosphere is electric as thousands pour into this vast arena with a capacity of 13000. The lighting rig is the size of a rig more commonly found in the North Sea pumping oil to our fair shores, but this one was going to pump energy onto this dance floor as never seen before.
The Posse decide to make our meeting point at the front of the dj box so that we have a good vantage point to watch the legendary shows and also be able to keep an eye on my niece when she performs.
At midnight, dead on the stroke of, and with no signs of pumpkins, I witnessed a site that I will remember for many years. The opening show was Madonna’s ‘Music’, with the aforementioned troupe giving us a site to feast upon. Exact numbers I am unsure of, they appeared on a Las Vegas style set and just kept coming, in what appeared to be their hundreds. On a revolving stage, from the sides and down a staircase this drag queen would have DIED to descend, they performed one of the slickest dance routines I have ever seen. The energy that came from that stage was further fuelled by the cheers from the crowd, all wishing that they too were part of this amazing scene. Topped off by the appearance of a naked cowboy astride a bucking bronco, the endless pyrotechnics and stunning lasers left me in a state of euphoria, unlike any chemically induced one I have ever experienced.
We spent our time floating between pavilions after that, into The Hordern to hear legendary godfather of house Frankie Knuckles spin a disc or two. Over at City Life, a new dance space for the hard house fans amongst us, we heard Trade Wunderkind Fergie play a blinding set, though he did throw a bit of wobbly when asked to relinquish the decks for local dj Baby Bear.
Having had inside information from Miss G, we were privilege to witness all the shows that were on in the RHI through the night. Adeva and local girl Shauna Jensen gave a blinding performance of “Sisters” in the 2.30am show. Vanessa Amorosi’s show at 4am included an accompaniment by the “laser goddess”, an acrobat who was flown out over the crowd in a mirror costume and then had lasers blasted all over the arena, whilst Vanessa sang “The Power”. Renee Geyer was the 7am show, singing “Sunshine on a Rainy Day”, suspended over the dance floor perched on the edge of the sun. The production of these shows is incredible, it is difficult to describe them in greater detail, just let me say, jealousy is a very ugly thing and at that moment in time I resembled Quasimodo!
My niece, Miss G, took to the decks at 7 am and rocked the RHI as only she knows how. Her sound is unique as most of you know, if her music were the food of life, I would be obese.
The “climax” to this 12hr marathon was none other than Sheena Easton (god, I hate Esther Rantzen) who rose like a phoenix from the ashes, or her hotel suite, to close Mardi Gras. Her rendition of the disco classic “Givin’ Up” was well received, but she ruined her performance by giving a speech at the end that was read off her bouquet of flowers!
10am Sunday 4th March 2001.
Will God forgive Sydney? I hope not!
Mille Mopp x
Cynthia Payne was born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex and was a renowned English party hostess who made the headlines in the 1970’s and 80’s when she was accused of being a madam and running a brothel at Ambleside Avenue in Streatham, south-west London. In 1978 she was convicted of running "the biggest disorderly house in history", for which she was sent to prison for 18 months. This was reduced to six months on appeal. Her parties were famous for, amongst other things, their luncheon vouchers which were purportedly given to guests who exchanged them for services with prostitutes. The charge was £25 which included food, drink and sex…a bargain if ever there was one!
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