AUSTRALIA: Cowboys ride high at Australia's gay parade

Record ID: 557679

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: Cowboys ride high at Australia's gay parade
  • Date: 5th March 2006
  • Summary: FLOAT BY IRISH COMMUNITY WITH SIGN READING 'I'M A BEAUTIFUL GAY' ON U2 THEMED FLOAT, WITH MAN SINGING ON U2 SONG 'ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY'
  • Embargoed: 20th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Australia
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVAEKYLJBVX46I2ZBK167HRO46EH
  • Story Text: Thousands of Australians crammed Sydney's tiny gay quarter to applaud half-naked cowboys, gay rugby players and other scantily-dressed marchers in the city's annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade on Saturday (March 4).
    Armed with picnic baskets, blankets and beer, onlookers lined the parade's 1.6 km (1 mile) route cheering the 6,000 participants and 120 colourful floats, many loosely adopting the theme of this year's Oscar-hopeful blockbuster "Brokeback Mountain", Ang Lee's saga of gay cowboys.
    The cowboys competed for applause from the crowd with themes including bare-chested men hula dancing in Hawaiian grass skirts and a lesbian motorcycle club. Many people been waiting hours to secure the best positions along the route.
    The parade began in 1978 to protest a ban on homosexuality in Australia, but has become more hedonistic over the years.
    Homosexuality was decriminalised in Australia in 1984.
    One boisterous group of marchers promoted "bisexuality and paganism", while another implored onlookers to take pride in their leather.
    A float titled "Friends of Dick Cheney" featured a nod to the U.S. Vice President who has stood by his lesbian daughter and is at odds with President George W. Bush about the need for a U.S. constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages.
    Revellers traditionally carry on long into the night after the parade with police warning against public drunkenness and buying drugs from illegal street peddlers.
    Parade organisers estimated the size of the crowd at around 450,000.
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