Koori Gras- A voice for the First Australian Queer Community

The Koori Gras is a lively showcase supporting First Peoples Queer performance, community and culture. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community come together from all around the world to celebrate in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. 

Koori Gras began as a small exhibition event within the Mardi Gras to show support for the Indigenous Queer community. 

In 2017, the co-curator of the exhibition Tim Bishop compiled an interactive timeline charting the involvement of Indigenous participation in Mardi Gras Parade throughout history. I spoke to Tim to understand the research and creation behind Koori Gras and what this means for Indigenous Queer people. 

So Tim, how did the idea for Koori Gras come about?

During the time of the small exhibitions, I began to receive stories from First Peoples that were in the parade and my son put together a website asking for the community to send stories and photographs. I knew most of the history, anyway, but I still went online and watched videos,to look  for black presence in Mardi Gras Parade. I then put my research altogether in an interactive timeline called Black Mardi Gras Net and with the success of that and the attention it got. This opportunity came along this year through Moogahlin Performing Arts to put on an exhibition or Arts event in the period of Mardi Gras. So they had the idea “let’s give Tim this project and we will turn it into an exhibition. We will put through a few Arts events into the slot of that five days.”

What was your main initiative behind the project? 

Part of the reason why I did it is a lot of the people who are my age and are older have passed away, so I really felt a sense of responsibility to actually document the  stories of the First People LGBTQ, so that people like me and other members of the community my age will not have to fear the loss of their narratives The First People Queer representation could potentially lose that history and that was the real initiative. It was talked about for a while, and then I just decided to do it. I really enjoyed creating it, and it became a bit bigger than I expected (laughs) but that’s okay. 

The theme around the 2017 Mardi Gras Festival was ‘Creating Equality.’ Do you believe the Koori Gras entered the event at the perfect time? 

Oh you’re exactly right. Of all the themes, the theme of ‘Creating Equality’ is  most significant to First Peoples. The theme asks the community to think about equality. You know, there are far more important and driving issues that call for equality that haven’t  been given the opportunity to be addressed or overcome in terms of health, education, and employment. We are behind the recognition of the issue achievement for equality; however there is still a bigger struggle. The 1978 Equality Protest, wasn’t just a call for Gay and Lesbian equality; it was also a call for equality for Black people. There is a real fear behind this issue of gay marriage; people may feel that once this is achieved all is achieved. This is absolutely not the case.

Do you believe people are now taking notice to the First People Queer Community, as your website and event have become more publicised than expected?

Absolutely, there is a lot of interest in it. One of the reasons being, well, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community,is a relatively small community,  only roughly four percent of Australia. here has not been a high representation, so they need visibility and that’s the case for any marginalised or minority group. They are small fish in a big pond, so they don’t get seen. Now, pulling this all together and putting it into one project where the focus is just these people, this minority in this parade, you get to see a picture and have the opportunity for five days just to to look at Black people. In the parade’s and the films and the movies over the years, you didn’t really look at them very much, you didn’t document them. So we pulled together what we discovered and put these little fish in a bigger pond (on the website) to show it off. The wider audience is now noticing and going, “Oh, I didn’t realise there was such a level of Black presence in the Parade.” It’s lovely that there is interest, it really is. It’s genuine interest and its great support from Mardi Gras who are also co-curating this project.

Whilst conducting your research, were any of the findings particularly surprising to you?

There have been a few surprises, particularly around 1988 which recognised the first original Aboriginal entry in the parade, which is now approaching almost 20 years ago. I knew the men who had put the exhibition in that parade together. Most of them have passed now, and it was a small group of men. When I went online, I got in contact with someone named Kimberley O’Sullivan who was with one of the leaders of that parade. You know, online being online, somebody had reported that there was an issue around the fact that Kimberley and Deb Thomson (leader) had asked to lead the parade that year. There was a lot of press articles released at the time as people has an issue of dealing with the contentious issue of the bicentenary. I just didn’t realise that there was all this sort of contention around being in the parade. There was also support for it, and Mardi Gras was also stepping in and saying “we will allow anyone to put anything in the parade.” I also came across, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I came across the gay press actually stirring the pot. It wasn’t so much the outside community, they were actually looking for the drama, they were looking for a story. The other thing that is always there in the press is those when they are talking about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the community, you know, you are not actually hearing from a Torres Strait Islander person themselves. They weren’t writing the letters or being asked what they had thought. This was around 30 years ago, but this was also when the White Fellas began to enter the parade and offer their support for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Only two weeks ago, I found reconciliation group papers that outlined Aboriginal representation in the parade. The first was a banner. 

Do you feel as though real issues of importance, such as the participation of First People in Mardi Gras Festival, can be overlooked as the community can perceive Mardi Gras as a celebration or a party?

That is why I have created this timeline. The history is forever and is always going to be there. The community is really excited about it and it is a celebration. The energy is going to show itself and the constantly expanding representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queer people is what will showcase the awareness at the Mardi Gras. Hopefully, such festivities will call for more exhibitions such as the Koori Gras to happen again. It is a great opportunity for the community to come together, which is becoming more and more important. Also, the festival happened in Redfern in 2017, which is an Aboriginal suburb. 

What would you like to see change in the Australian LGBTQ movement?

I think what probably needs to change is what the visibility of minority communities such as First People Queers look like. The community needs to increase the visibility, work against the stereotypes, and hear the stories of the real people so we understand what they do and what their lives are really like. 

Click below to see Tim’s timeline of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in Mardi Gras

WORDS: SARAH RAMANTANIS
PHOTOGRAPHY: SAMUEL DIXON