Sydney Gay Mardi Gras | Photos

What began in the 1970′s in Sydney as a protest against persecution of sexual minorities, has become the world’s most colorful celebration for the gay and lesbian communities. On our last night in Australia, we witnessed the culmination of the Gay Mardi Gras festivities with its annual parade. Attracting more than 300,000 spectators and lasting a whopping four hours, the parade was a wild celebration and worth the international hype.

We waited hours for our front row seats and the Mardi Gras parade did not dissappoint. Featuring an array of exotic costumes and pulsating dance music, nine thousand people from all walks of life participated in the parade. Nearly 150 sparkling floats danced their way down Oxford Street to waving rainbow flags and loud cheers. Many of the floats portrayed this year’s theme ‘History of the World’ and even Osama Bin Laden made an appearance with a float depicting his coming out party!

Aside from the glam and glitz, the parade was also inspiring. There were floats marching for gay adoption and civil marriages and even a float dedicated to highschoolers against homophobia. What a colorful way to commemorate how far we’ve come and how far we have left to go.

Click below for photos from the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras parade.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.