SYDNEY, Australia — This month marks the 10-year anniversary of Sydney’s Gay Solidarity Group (GSG). . . .
In 1978 a handful of gay people received a request from the San Francisco Freedom Day Committee for solidarity actions in Australia to coincide with San Francisco’s street march on June 24 to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall gay riots in New York.
A Gay Rights march took place on Saturday morning, June 24. The same evening, the properly approved first Gay Mardi Gras took place but the police harassed the parade throughout and commandeered the sound truck.
When the carnival arrived in the Kings Cross area, the police moved against it, brutally and violently arresting 53 people who failed to escape. The year came to a close with approximately 200 gay people facing various police charges . . . for daring to demand gay rights.