Mardi Gras 1999
Well, it’s all over for another year … Sydney’s month-long festival of all things queer. The parade, as always, was a delight to watch and an even bigger delight to be in. Where else in the world can you walk down the street in front of 600,000 straights and have them screaming with delight and begging you to touch them?
Casey, Claudio and I were together this year in my dear friend Kabi’s concept, Cusson’s Imperial Leather Pride. (For those outside Australia, Cusson’s Imperial Leather is a popular brand of soap.) Our float consisted of 20 queer boys and girls, dressed in leather and leis and blowing bubbles, while towing a huge Cusson’s soap package. If you’re old enough to remember the famous Cusson’s TV commercial of the early 80s, you’ll know what the word balloons saying “Tahiti looks nice”, “Simon, Tahiti” and ” Roger, Wilco” refer to.
The party was fun too, as always, although the Dome was suffering from ventilation problems which made it too darn hot to dance for long. Still, we made the most of it and I got to spend a few hours in the company of the most gorgeous and lovely bunch of people in the world.
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