MARCH 2009:
Sequined tuxedos! Im slim, but Im not blessed with having the body of an Olympic swimmer, so the common approach of wearing as little as possible in the parade, eg swimmers and glitter, just wouldn’t work for me. But sequined tuxedos? Now you’re talking! I came across an advert in the Sydney Star Observer, looking for people to march in the parade with a local political lobby group. I didn’t really care who the group was, I just knew that their costume was for me. I hadn’t been involved with the lobby previously, but Id heard about their work and had a lot of respect for them. They have achieved amazing progress with law reform locally, especially recently.
A friend of mine from way back also wanted to join, so we applied and turned up to the first preparation meeting to make costumes. There were almost a dozen others there, and many of them likewise hadnt been involved in the lobby before, a number were either students of public policy or worked in that area. It turned out I was a dab hand at the sewing machine making our cuffs. Could my future lie in apparel rather than Info Tech? Watch out Calvin Klein! While I was considered the most talented at making sequinned cuffs, there was a cute guy around my age who turned out to likewise be the best at making sequined ties. In respect of his privacy, lets call him Tom.
When we turned up for the first dance practice (yep, there would be a dance routine), we found that we would be dancing in pairs. Tom didnt have a partner and I was stoked that we were able to dance together. We were led by a guy who seemed to be a professional choregrapher and did around 4 practices altogether before the big event. Our theme was Mission Possible, complete with music from 007 movies, and we were to be dressed like secret agents, each with an earpiece, dark sunnies and a bubble gun.
Parade day started with a 10am with our final practise. Then we had our custume fitting and decorated the truck that would carry our music system. As we set up the lights for the truck we were photographed by a bunch of photojournalists from Hong Kong and a cameraman from Channel 10 had us repeat a few bits so he could capture the action. When we arrived in the Hyde Park early in the afternoon, the place was buzzing with excitement, and more hot shirtless guys than average! Our group were placed 7th in the parade, behind PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays), another organisation I admire. Tom and I took the opportunity to snoop around, and located the Foxtel set with a large seat all ready for Joan Rivers to MC the televised broadcast. God I love that woman, Im just not able to explain why... There were marchers in all sorts of costumes. As I queued at the portaloos the lady in front of my told me she was portraying a televangelist, while to my right a bunch of slutty nurses adjusted their makeup. Tom took quite an interest in a shirtless fake footy team float that were acting as a backdrop as a TV news reporter did a live report for the evening bulletin.
The parade began late, but the start still arrived with the shocking realisation that we were about to strut our stuff before hundreds of thousands of people down the parade route, as well as being photographed and broadcast around the country. So high on adenalin of nerves and excitement we launched into Liverpool street, and down the parade route. I concentrated hard on getting the dance steps right, in a determined effort to look good baby! Although it was fine during practise time, the volume of our music turned out to be a bit low amongst the noice of the crowd, but by following those nearer to the truck, it was still possible to keep in time.
Before we knew it we had reached Moore Park, where we retrieved our bags said our goodbyes. We were fairly stuffed after a long day, but it still seemed sad that it was over. My night had only just begun though. I had agreed to be a volunteer at the official afterparty, with my shift starting at 5am. After midnight I became really tired though, and made the mistake of falling asleep. At 5:30am I awoke to my phone ringing. It was a party manager on the line, enquiring of my whereabouts....
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