Supermum Set to Lead the Parade

Our favourite Supermum to her gay son Shelley Argent has just been announced as this year’s Sydney Mardi Gras’ Chief of Parade.

The tireless campaigner for marriage equality will lead all the glittering floats down Oxford Street on March 3. Our photoshopped picture above shows how the proud mum and her son James might look on the night.

Argent is the national spokesperson for PFLAG – Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays – and has been awarded an Order of Australia and QLD Senior Australian of the Year for her work in campaigning for LGBT equality.

The lovely Brisbane mum says she’s enormously proud to be leading the world-famous parade this year.

“This is an acknowledgement of all those parents and families who are supportive of their gay and lesbian loved ones,” she says. “It also shows me that the community supports and appreciates the work I do.”

Argent began her journey in advocating gay and lesbian rights in 1998 when her son first came out to her. She soon felt that there were very few resources or materials for the families of LGBTQI people and began writing a series of educational booklets to enable them to support their family members.

Each year the Board of Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras choose at last one Chief of Parade who represents the values and spirit of Mardi Gras. This has previously included Ian Roberts, Don Baxter, Peter Tatchell, Bev Lange, Matthew Mitcham and Lily Tomlin to name a few.

SGLMG Chair Peter Urmson says Shelley is “the obvious choice” for this year’s Chief of Parade because of the current national debate around marriage equality and the reoccurring debate on same sex parenting.

“Shelley has been a tireless supporter of other parents and a persuasive advocate for full equality,” he explains. “Her dedication to the rights of her gay son is an inspiration to LGBTQI Australians, their families and the nation as a whole.

“Shelley Argent is helping lead Australia to a fairer and more inclusive future,” he adds. “We are immensely proud to honour Shelly’s tireless work in showing that families come in many different forms, all bound by love.”

Fittingly, Shelley will lead the section of the Parade that is about families and marriage.

View Source

Gay Travel: Ten Things to Do at Sydney Mardi Gras

The incredible thing about Australia during the months of February and March is that this Aussie summer season makes for one hot Mardi Gras celebration! Thousands of people come together Down Under to mingle and meet for one special Sydney Mardi Gras. Events span over two weeks and will shake you to the core of your being with plenty of festivities to go around.

Whatever your celebratory style may be, you'll be sure to find many events that are just right for you. Start by checking out our Sydney Mardi Gras 2012 Top Ten List; we might even see you there!

Fair Day- February 12th

Fair Day is the ultimate way to kick off the official Mardi Gras season. Fill February 12th with a fun and relaxed day out in the park with friends, family, and pets too! Up to 70 000 people routinely show up to sit on the grass, browse the stalls, enjoy the wide range of delicacies available at food stands, and have a few drinks. Fair Day runs from 10am until 8pm, so you'll have plenty of time to get the whole family out and about to celebrate!
Homage- February 18th, 25th, and March 10th

Join local GLBTQI musicians as they pay Homage to their queer musical heroes in this cabaret tribute to our community's trailblazers. Top-notch young talent from Sydney's music scene will cover KD Lang, Antony & the Johnsons, Melissa Etheridge, Ricky Martin, Ani DiFranco, Gossip, the Village People, Dusty Springfield and so many more amazing queer artists. Come together in this musical celebration to record our history, celebrate our heroes, and reflect on the songs which are etched into the queer memory bank.

Every Saturday night 5 different bands will be featured at the Blackcat Lounge at the Sidetrack Theater for a different collection of tunes and talent, classic hits and few undiscovered gems.

Full Story from GayTravel.com

Mardi Gras Launches Festival Guide and More Party Details

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) has launched its 2012 Sydney Mardi Gras Festival Guide, Parade Entry Kit and more information about the line-up for the 2012 Harbour and Mardi Gras parties.

The festival includes more than 60 events from February 12 to March 4, culminating in the Mardi Gras party and parade.

The festival guide is a pocket-sized edition and will have four alternative covers featuring faces from Sydney’s LGBTI community.

The first of these, featuring Sydney drag entertainer Summer Salt, will be available from this weekend in local bars and clubs. The other three covers feature Mardi Gras 1978 organiser Ron Austin (pictured), Sydney Bear community member Ross James, and Oxford Hotel functions manager Tia Lee, and will appear around Sydney over the coming week.

The guide is an overview of key events, so look out for the full festival line-up in an upcoming calendar and on Mardi Gras’ website.

A new event featured is The Year of Magical Wanking, presented in association with the Sydney Theatre.
Featuring one of Ireland’s most incendiary performers, Neil Watkins, this piece of theatre will take audiences through a wilderness of queerness.

Younger LGBTIs will have a safe place to party at a Queer Prom, presented by Twenty10 and Camp Out, while Queer Thinking returns with speakers including Professor Sara Ahmed, artist Gary Carsley and lawyer Alyena Mohummadally.

The parade will have the same eligibility criteria as this year’s parade, with eligibility based upon each group’s message and LGBTI status.

The Entrant Criteria specify that entries must be either “LGBTQI individuals, groups and organisations communicating a message” or “non-LGBTQI individuals, groups and organisations communicating a clear message of support or celebration for LGBTQI people”.

SGLMG will also hold a Parade Entrants Open Day in the Velvet Room of the Bank Hotel, Newtown, 1-4pm on December 18 to talk to the Parade Creative team about entries.

“This year’s Parade Entry Kit features the same simple criteria that we established last year,” SGLMG CEO Michael Rolik said.

“The Entrant Criteria ensure that our Parade is a platform for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex community to celebrate their diversity and express themselves.

“Whether this is your first time taking part, or you have marched in the Parade for years, we hope you’ll get involved in making the 2012 Parade an unforgettable and electrifying night.”

SGLMG will provide additional funding for community floats thanks to funds raised through this year’s Big Gay Weekend, and will double the funding allocated to its in-house floats.

SGLMG has announced that Lee Dagger of Bimbo Jones, Andy Butler and Wayne G will be among the big acts performing at the Mardi Gras Party, dubbed Mardigrasland in which the Entertainment Quarter will be transformed into a theme park of music, dance and electrifying acts.

SGLMG also announced the ticket options available for the party.

For the first time, general admission tickets can be purchased as a bundle of four, for $99 per ticket, plus booking fee.

A $99 ticket will also be available to youth and concession party-goers, plus booking fee.

Premium tickets will include express entry, access to specially reserved seating in the Hordern Pavilion, access to the express bar lane in the RHI and the Hordern, access to a designated premium lounge with comforts such as couches, a complimentary cloak room, premium toilets, a souvenir welcome pack and a premium wristband for identification.

Tickets are available from Ticketek at www.ticketek.com.au.

The iconic Harbour Party has been named Harbour ’12 Cool Change and will be held on February 25, with acts including Lee Dagger, Kate Monroe, Troy Cox and Olivian DJ, and moves from its traditional Sunday setting to a Saturday after feedback from partygoers.

Tickets are $105 plus booking fee.

“Harbour ’12 is the cool change you’ve been waiting for. We can’t wait to see even more local and international guests join us on the Saturday for this must-do Mardi Gras event,” Rolik said.

In related news, the venue for a December 17 information night on SGLMG’s recent name and logo changes has been changed from the ACON building to Darlinghurst’s Heffron Hall at 34 Burton St.

The event will still take place from 10am until noon.

INFO: www.mardigras.org.au

KYLIE

IT'S BEEN MORE THAN TWO DECADES SINCE KYLIE MINOGUE LEFT RAMSAY STREET TO TACKLE THE POP-MUSIC INDUSTRY. SINCE THEN, SHE HAS CRAFTED A CAREER IMPRESSIVE BOTH FOR ITS LONGEVITY AND RANGE. A VERY PUBLIC BATTHE WITH CANCER HAS PROVED HER PLUCK.

Clem Bastow - The Big Issue's Music Editor

It’s difficult to pinpoint precisely why people and critics hate Kylie Minogue. Maybe it was because the critics and mass population of Australia were trying to impress some knob-end rock snob who proudly boasted that they hadn’t listened to commercial radio for 15 years. Maybe it was just because they wanted to be contrary.

For a number of years the mass population of Australia and critics would roll their eyes at the mere mention of Australia’s ‘Singing Budgie’. The thing about the anti-Kylie brigade: membership to that club requires a subscription to the tiresome old mentality that pop-music is inherently empty-headed. These comments are all well and good, except that this stance requires a person to forget that many of the artists we now consider legends (Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra) rarely, if ever, wrote their own songs.

As the juggernaut that is her $25 million dollar Aphrodite Les Folies Tour prepares to roll into Australia and additional tour dates are being released it shows that Kylie should no longer be seen as the ‘Singing Budgie’ but as the ambassador for all Australians.

As Kylie once sung: We all have our cross to bear, But in the name of understanding now, Our problems should be shared. Kylie will be performing around Australia from the 3rd June 2011 to 22nd June 2011 in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Excerpts taken from Clem Bastow's article from The Big Issue

http://www.bigissue.org.au

Click Here to purchase Kylie Tickets!

I have somewhat grown up with Kylie Minogue - EXTREME KYLIE FAN

Starting at the beginning I would say that I have somewhat grown up with Kylie Minogue through my childhood and this has since extended to my adulthood.

Kylie is an Australian Icon and everyone around the world knows the name KYLIE. From her humble beginnings in Neighbours and the relationships of which some made headlines around the world, Australia has always opened their hearts and minds to her.

Her first song/single “Locomotion” and the copious times that I used to stand in the Living Room of my parents house dancing and singing, I swear my parents got sick of that song my cousins who came over for dinners would also dance and sing with me.

In 1998 one of my cousins came to see me and asked if I wanted to go and see Kylie’s Intimate and Live Tour (14th June 1998), of course my answer was ‘YES’, but I was still hesitant. Being my first ever concert I did not know what to expect. Let’s say that I was not disappointed and that since then I have never ever missed one Kylie concert, regardless of price.
This now brings me to 2005, and anyone reading this will understand this year for Kylie. For those who do not know or remember, Kylie was scheduled to come to Australia to perform her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour.

Whilst in Australia Kylie was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, this made front headlines on newspapers all over the world, and shocked Australia.

Let alone I had just moved to Sydney with my partner and this was to be my birthdaypresent. I will be honest and say that I was nearly in tears that day; I did not know what to do, what to say or how to respond.

I could only imagine what was going through Kylie’s head at the time. The hardest announcement she had to make was that the Australian Leg of the Tour was cancelled until further notice. But a year later and with a new CD on its way Kylie re-entered Australia and thanked everyone for their wishes, and announced the Showgirl: Homecoming Tour.

This show was fantastic, with no expense spared. Soon after this Kylie released the album ‘X’ marking the tenth studio album, she immediately went into preparation for the KylieX2008 Tour which was phenomenal.

This now brings us all up-to-date with Aphrodite Les Folies World Tour, the first time Kylie will actually tour world wide. The entire tour is valued at approximately $25 million and Kylie Minogue will be joined on stage by a cast of dancers and aerial performers, along with her live band. A water feature which has been specifically created by the same company which is known for Las Vegas’ Bellagio Resort’s, Fountains of Bellagio. A total of 100 personnel and a fleet of over 25 semi-trailer trucks will be transporting this show around Australia.

I have specially made this package for our hotel for all the Kylie fans out there and also for those coming to have their first ever Kylie experience in Sydney, and believe me it is well worth the experience!

VIEW AND BOOK THE Kylie Aphrodite Package at Metro Hotel on Pitt

Written by Daniel Pearce – EXTREME KYLIE FAN

Sydney Madri Gras Festival 19 February - 6 March 2011

Sydney Madri Gras Festival 19 February - 6 March 2011

Get Accommodation now at Metro Hotels, there are 4 great properties within close proximity to the Mardi Gras Festivities.