Sydney Mardi Gras 2023: Lidia Thorpe clashes with cops at parade while yelling ‘f*** the police’

Lidia Thorpe has clashed with police officers marching at Mardi Gras on Saturday night as thousands of scantily-clad revellers partied well into the early hours. 

The controversial senator was captured jumping into the parade route and confronting an officer with her arms crossed before allegedly shouting ‘f*** the police’.

The former Greens senator decided to launch herself in front of the AFP contingent during the parade and repeatedly yelled her slogan in their faces, witnesses have claimed. 

One shocked reveller who attended the parade told Daily Mail Australia: ‘She came out of nowhere, it took a few seconds for us to realise what was going on.

‘I don’t know how she got into the parade but she ran after the cops as they marched screaming “f*** the police” at them and towards the crowd.

‘She really got in their faces when she caught up, like inches away. Not what we expected to see tonight.

‘Pride is supposed to be about unity but she was the only one there making it about something else. Shocking, really’.

A NSW police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia an incident had occurred at about 9pm. 

‘A woman lay in front of a float on Oxford Street, momentarily preventing the progress of the parade,’ she said. 

‘She was later removed from the parade at the request of organisers for breaching the terms of her participation’.

No charges were laid and there was no arrests.  

Ms Thorpe marched with the ‘No Pride in Genocide’ float, who campaign for zero police present at Mardi Gras and was earlier pictured wearing First Nations colours and holding an Aboriginal Flag handbag. 

Many police officers marching at the parade were waving Progress flags with the male police officer confronted by the senator not appearing to react to her protestations. 

Pride in Protest, a LGBTQIA+ activist group, announced the newly independent senator would be participating in their float in an Instagram post on Thursday. 

Mardi Gras board director and Pride in Protest member Skip Blofield welcomed Senator Thorpe’s participation in the float.

‘I am proud to march alongside Lidia this Saturday to say that queer rights and Blak rights are one and the same,’ Mr Blofield said.

The group have organised floats and marched in the Mardi Gras parade for close to a decade under banners such as ‘Queers Against Austerity’ and ‘No Pride in Detention’.

‘We are staunch in saying that the oppression of queer people and the oppression of Indigenous people and refugees are one and the same fight. We find it shameful that the Australian government continues the atrocities of the camps and prisons in this country,’ Pride in Protest member Mikhael Burnard said.

The group welcomed ‘all community members’ to join them and Senator Thorpe in marching.

It’s not the first time Senator Thorpe has publicly confronted police.

In May, while she was still a member of the Green party, she told a police officer ‘you’re a disgrace’ during a demonstration at Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodatio where activists protested against the transportation of 12 detainees to Christmas Island detention centre. 

‘You are the criminals, you are the only criminals on this land,’ Ms Thorpe shouted at police in video posted to her social media channels. 

‘How dare you manhandle women like you did. Like you pushed me out of the way. You’re an absolute disgrace,’ she added.

Ms Thorpe has become known for high profile activism in her four years in Victorian and federal politics, especially on immigration, social justice and environmental issues. 

Meanwhile, thousands of scantily-clad revellers dressed in lingerie, budgie smugglers and leotards partied well into the night as celebrations continued in the CBD and beyond. 

Colourful revellers wrapped in rainbows and sparkling in sequins made a pilgrimage to the queer community’s spiritual home as the celebration returns to the streets after two years away.

Sydney’s Oxford Street is awash with glitter after 300,000 partygoers celebrated the crown jewel of the WorldPride program, which Australia is hosting for the first time.

The event follows a blockbuster WorldPride opening concert in the Domain on Friday night, when Kylie Minogue headlined in a performance that included a surprise cameo from her sister Dannii.

MAFS Model Evelyn Ellis left little to the imagination as she headed out in King’s Cross in a lingerie set.

Meanwhile, P.E. Nation founder Pip Edwards looked gorgeous in an all black number, with a backless semisheer crop top and miniskirt.

Adding a suitable touch of camp, the businesswoman added knee high stiletto black leather boots and slicked her blonde tresses back into a bun.

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade will return to its heritage-listed route after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event to relocate to the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2021 and 2022.

More than 200 floats and 12,500 parade participants will dance through 1.7 kilometres of rainbow-lined streets in a celebration of queer identity, community and equality.

Anthony Albanese became the first sitting prime minister to march in the parade, which he initially joined in 1983 – five years after it began as a protest for gay rights.

‘I won’t try and compete in the fashion stakes,’ he said on Saturday.

‘Pride is something that we should be proud of, that Australia is moving towards a more and more equal community where everyone is respected, no matter who they love.’

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade will return to its heritage-listed route after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the event to relocate to the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2021 and 2022.

More than 200 floats and 12,500 parade participants will dance through 1.7 kilometres of rainbow-lined streets in a celebration of queer identity, community and equality.

Anthony Albanese will become the first sitting prime minister to march in the parade, which he initially joined in 1983 – five years after it began as a protest for gay rights.

‘I won’t try and compete in the fashion stakes,’ he said on Saturday.

‘Pride is something that we should be proud of, that Australia is moving towards a more and more equal community where everyone is respected, no matter who they love.’

Mr Albanese said when he first marched in the parade 40 years ago people were campaigning for their basic rights and there had been a long journey of reform since that era.

Transgender activist Kalypso Finbar said the parade’s return had come with a renewed sense of pride.

‘It’s almost like a resurrection,’ she said.

‘There’s a different energy in the air this year because there’s more accessibility because of that Oxford Street factor.’

For Mardi Gras veterans such as Dykes on Bikes president Emily Saunders, it feels like a homecoming.

‘It’s our natural home, we ride motorcycles, for us, being on the street is where we belong,’ she told AAP.

The 2023 celebration marks 45 years since the first parade, which ended in dozens of people being arrested and charged.

Lance Dow, who was part of the 1978 march, says he feels ‘excited but odd’ to still be attending almost five decades later.

‘Being a ’78er, it’s incredible how far we’ve come since that night,’ he told AAP.

Mr Dow said the hundred or so marchers didn’t have a clear idea about what they were doing back then.

‘We didn’t know much about pride in those days, it was all camp. But now I feel a lot of pride.’

In recognition of their historical significance, Dykes on Bikes and their gay counterparts lead the parade alongside a First Nations float and one dedicated to the ’78ers.

This year’s event also featured some relative newcomers such as Haka for Life, an organisation that raises awareness of men’s mental health issues.

CEO of Haka for Life Leon Ruri says their float, which will come alive with didgeridoos, corroboree and haka, will be one of the loudest of the night.

‘We’re using the medicine of culture,’ he told AAP.

‘We’ve got so many people with diverse backgrounds and people recovering from serious addictions and all those sorts of things. So to have them here on this line and expressing themselves with a smile. We’re winning.’