Sydney homosexual love carnival parade chinese square swing folding fan practice dance steps
Chinese student Li Xujie comes to Australia for Mardi Gras
"I am most moved by the tolerance of Australian society, so many people are supporting you, I am moving tears. "
Mr li`s parade team, called sydney`s gay parade chinese square (Mardi Gras Chinese Float Group), consists of 60 volunteers, including a number of members from thai and middle east backgrounds.
Two years ago, Mr. Lee came to Australia to study for master degree. He said his life in Australia made him feel personally about the local community`s acceptance of the LGBTIQ.
Sexual minorities refer to groups whose gender identity is different from the majority of heterosexuals in mainstream societies, such as homosexual love, bisexuality, transsexity, coolness, intersex, asexuality, etc.
"I was afraid of being pointed when I was in China," he said.
"It`s still a deep cover-up outside, and I`m as conservative as they are in that respect. "
Now, when he talks about his sexual niche, he reveals more pride. Recently, he was also in Timeline to officially come out to his family and friends.
"Coming out is mainly inspired by Mardi Gras, wanting to be a more real self, not wanting to be straight again, so many years tired," Li said.
"My family was very surprised at first, but there wasn`t much overreach, and my sister quickly sent a message of support, and my aunt said the next day if only I were happy. "
In late 2017, Australia passed the same-sex marrage act, with Lee and his partner becoming one of the first same-sex couples to register marry.
Chinese student Li Xujie and his partner are registered in Australia.
Impact of the new crown epidemic
JJ is the convener of this Chinese square. She said this year, from float design, clothing, selection to choreography, will show a strong element of Chinese style.
"We`ve been experimenting with a variety of styles in the last few years, hoping to have some innovative images for the local audience and not want to convey the stereotype," she told ABC Chinese.
She said that last year because the style of the Chinese square is not unique enough, some viewers said they did not notice the presence of the Chinese square.
"We are a little disappointed at this because we want to represent the Chinese community as a whole. "
Convener JJ takes part in rehearsals ahead of Sydney`s homosexual love big parade
The new epidemic of COVID-19, which is spreading all over the world, is also bringing many challenges to the Chinese square.
Australia`s travel ban on Chinese tourists in mainland creates "great inconvenience" to organisers in clothing transportation and personnel arrangements.
"We have a dozen players who can`t come back because of the ban, the players who can`t come back are disappointed and we`re disappointed," JJ said.
"Our clothing is custom-made this year and involves [importing] fabric from China. ..... At that time is not enough to make up, did not expect the outbreak after no way to replenish the fabric. In sydney, where there is no suitable chinese-style fabric, similar alternatives are especially expensive and budgets are particularly tight each year. "
In response to the emergency, JJ and its members managed to raise money to help the parade go smoothly.
"will bring bad children "?
Chinese square for five consecutive years to participate in Sydney`s homosexual love big parade
This year is the fifth time jj has led a chinese phalanx to attend the great parade in sydney`s homoxual love, and the lineup is the biggest so far.
JJ herself is not a sexual minority, but she hopes that through her personal efforts she will enhance the awareness of the Chinese community about the group.
"[ Participating in] the event, we can build awareness, at least with a voice that reminds people that there are groups in the Chinese community that are very large," JJ said.
"Everyone doesn`t say anything about it, but they don`t know the group, and how to talk about respect, understanding and tolerance on this basis. "
The continued appearance of the Chinese phalanx has also attracted a lot of public attention, and was awarded last year by Mardi Gras The Recognition Award.
But JJ said she came to the point of questioning and criticism.
"In the first year, a lot of the Chinese responded by saying,`You`re going to bring a bad kid like this, say you`re teaching them a bad lesson and letting them choose to be a homosexual love`. It`s a conclusion that you don`t know anything about the group," she said.
"One of the things I stressed to them was that who would choose the most difficult path if they could choose? "
"This is not a matter of personal choice, but of birth. "
Colorful characters blend into the festive atmosphere of Sydney`s homosexual love carnival
JJ believes that the Chinese community`s cognition and tolerance of sexual minorities gradually change with the progress of the whole society.
"We know, for example, a volunteer for a lesbian couple, one of whose parents strongly disagrees and dies. During the same-sex marriage law vote, her mother came to australia to see the majority of society`s reaction was yes, and her mother felt that it was not an`ugly and terrible` thing to be here," she said.
"The good thing about Mardi Gras is that the people who attended showed a very positive, positive, upward [mental outlook ]..."
"Although we don`t see every one of them [in parade], they can see in the distance that there`s a group of people who stand here brave and confident, and I think that`s an encouragement for them as well. "
How Mardi Gras evolved
More than half a million people from Australia and around the world wore their brightest - and sometimes even more nude - party outfits for the evening`s bash
Adrian Phoon is the only board member with a Chinese background among the big parade`s organizers. `The last 42 years have been a huge change for Mardi Gras,` he said.
"In 1978, it was only a very small roadside parade designed to draw public attention to the [differential] treatment of sexual minorities in employment and housing. Homosexual love was then illegal and is now legalised, and the same-sex marrage act passed," he said.
Adrian Phoon is on the board of the Sydney homosex love carnival
According to Adrian, the more prominent change in Mardi Gras is its own more pluralistic nature.
"Sexual minority communities should be diverse in age, body size, sexual orientation and gender, especially in cultural contexts," he said.
"Back more than 20 years ago, it would have been said that Asian Gay would only go to regular places. Now, asian culture is more widely reflected in australian culture and the public. I am delighted to see the diversity of this year`s great parade unfold in the array of attendees, including chinese, south and indonesian communities. "
"So many people will be involved in the Chinese square this year, whether it`s the Chinese who come from here or the immigrants who grew up in China, and I welcome them to join. "
Mardi Gras is a two-week cultural event that hosts a wide variety of music, performances, speeches, parties and other themes, and ends with the Sydney homosexual love big parade. There will be 191 floats this year, with more than 12,000 people attending parade, which is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of domestic and international visitors to the scene.
Albert Kruger, chief executive of Sydney`s homosex love carnival, said:" We have some fantastic parade floats that embrace the current theme`What Matter`... from purely celebratory and creative self-expression to a float that calls for action with a wild and witty protest, the 2020 Sydney homosexual love carnival parade offers us an opportunity to get together and tell the world what is important to minorities." "
Beehive-themed floats celebrate the contributions of the carnival`s volunteers over the past 40 years
Not long ago, Sydney beat Houston and Montreal, Canada, to win the 2023 World Pride Festival. The international cultural event, held every two years, will mark the first time that the event will be held in the Asia-Pacific region.
Adiran was a member of the then-Australian campaign committee.
"World Pride Day has never been in the Asia-Pacific region. If we succeed, we can bring to the world the challenges, problems, difficulties and joys and achievements of the sexual minority communities in the region at the same time," he said.
But we must acknowledge that homosexual love still faces penalties in 69 countries,21 of which are in our asia-pacific. For example, indonesia`s yazi province, the scourge of homosexual love, malaysia`s dengallou state, and in south korea`s busan`s homosexual love pade were cancelled for fear. "
"Hopefully every relationship will be bathed in the sunshine of love.""
Supporters of the same-sex marrage gathered outside the legislation yard in Taipai, holding placards "no vote to lose"
In recent years, chinese society has also discussed the protection of human rights and the legalization of same-sex marrage.
Last year, after three public deliberations on the draft of the civil code marriage family, speaker yue zhongming, the national people`s standing committee, said that the public proposal to legalize same-sex marriaage should be included in the civil code marriaage family.
A poll of nearly 10 million people then launched by the Chinese media network Phoenix New Media showed that more than 67 percent said they were supportive and 30 percent said they were opposed.
Public organizations concerned with promoting minority rights and interests have sprung up, and some have entered the campus for popular science publicity.
2016, common According to the China Sexual Minorities Survival Survey published by the National Development Programme, only 5 per cent of sexual minorities have made their sexual orientation or gender status public.
"The vast majority of LGBTI persons are discriminated against in all aspects of their lives, especially within the family; exclusion and abuse from the family are the most entrenched and the family is the place where exclusion and discrimination occurs most, followed by schools and work units," the report states.
Last may, the autonomous island tw became the first region in asia to legalize same-sex marria.
The Pride movement exists in Asia. ..... In shanghai, hanoi, they don`t pade but they go cycling; in burma they have boating-style celebrations. Even in Wuhan, it`s now known because it`s the epidemic center, but it has a fantastic LGBT center that leads its members to the mountain," Adrian said.
For Li Xujie, Mardi Gras is not just a carnival, but a moment to announce to the world to be himself.
"Hopefully every relationship, same sex or opposite sex, will one day be bathed in the sunshine of love," he said.
