70,000 people stage a mass hand-holding moment in Sydney to send a defiant message to President Putin and love to LGBTQI people in Russia.
Yesterday, Sunday, February 9, FAIR Day in Sydney, Australia became an international vehicle for Australians to show solidarity with LGBTQI people in Russia and athletes competing in the Sochi Winter Olympics.
At 2pm thousands of people assembled in front of the main stage to send a message to the Russian government about its discrimination of LGBTQI people following the enactment of the ‘gay propaganda’ law last year.
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and the Asia Pacific Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association joined forces to make the protest happen, making it the largest contribution to the Same Sex Holding Hands Initiative – an international project started by Pride House International after the Russian government banned them from hosting their traditional Olympic Pride House at Sochi.
FAIR Day officially launches the 2014 Mardi Gras festival season, and despite searing temperatures an estimated 70,000 people descended upon Victoria Park in Sydney.
Apart from the mass hand-holding protest, other highlights of the day included the Doggywood Pageant and Team Sydney’s Tug-o-War Challenge, as well as a large caricature of Vladimir Putin that was paraded around the grounds by Amnesty International volunteers.
Olympian Ji Wallace encouraged all Australians to support out Olympic snowboarder Belle Brockhoff, who is competing in the Sochi games and has vowed to use a hoped-for spot on the winner’s podium to draw attention to Russia’s record on anti-gay violence.
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