From cell block to celebration: the history of Sydney's Mardi Gras

1982: The establishment of the renowned Sleaze Ball fundraiser. First held at Paddington Town Hall, the event inspired by Sleaze Balls in New York and Berlin, the event is so popular 500 are turned away. The following year organisers book the Sydney Showground and charged $14 a ticket; 2000 people attend.

1983: Australia's first AIDS death.

1984: Homosexuality is decriminalised in NSW. In the months up until that time, the NSW Police had made more than 140 arrests for consensual gay sex – an offence that carried a penalty of up to 14 years imprisonment. The decline then death from AIDS-related illnesses of 38-year-old Bobby Goldsmith, a popular figure in the local scene, shocks Sydney. A charity is established in his name.

1985: Reverend Fred Nile condemns Mardi Gras suggesting it be replaced by compulsory public lectures about AIDS. He says he will pray for parade participants. AIDS Council of NSW (ACON) is set up to work to end HIV transmission.

Mardi Gras 78ers celebrate a reunion at the 2013 parade.
Photo: Steve Lunam

1987: Mardi Gras' place as Australia's largest night-time parade is cemented with 10,000 attendees.

1988: Dykes on Bikes lead the parade for the first time, ending the "girlcott" of the event by many lesbian and feminist groups.

The Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney in 1990.
Photo: Fairfax Media

1989: One of the most memorable parade entries, Fred Nile's giant head is served on a platter of fruit carried by parade officials – with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence surrounding him as his "handmaidens".

1993: Mardi Gras parade crowd reaches 500,000.

Australian Defence Force members and supporters march in the 2015 Mardi Gras parade.
Photo: CPL David Said

1994: The parade is broadcast on ABC television for the first time. In later years commercial networks fight for the rights.

1998: About 220 original 1978 marchers are invited to lead the parade. It is also the first year that police marched at the event, forming up near the 78ers in a symbolic gesture of respect and support.

The NRL had its own float parading in the Mardi Gras for the first time in 2016.

2000: Mardi Gras is officially launched with the lighting of an Olympic-style ceremonial flame on the steps of the Opera House.

2003: Chief of Parade in 2003 is Ian Roberts, the first high-profile Australian sportsperson and first rugby league player in the world to come out as gay. Mardi Gras' 25th anniversary is marred by financial problems with the organisation under administration, the community had to act urgently to save the festival. It did.

Participants prepare to put on a colourful show for the 2015 Mardi Gras at Hyde Park in Sydney.
Photo: James Alcock

2008: The 30th anniversary parade features 9500 participants and 134 floats.

2010: Visiting American photographer Spencer Tunick's nude installation kicks off the festival with 5200 people stripping off on the steps of the Opera House.

Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade has come a long way from its first event in 1978.

2013: The year of the rainbow crossing at Oxford Street in Taylor Square is created by City of Sydney as part of Mardi Gras' 35th anniversary celebrations. The Australian Armed Forces marches in uniform at the parade for the first time, in recognition of the service of LGBTQI personnel.

2015: Former NSW governor Dame Marie Bashir and her husband Sir Nicholas Shehadie lead the parade.

Sydney's Mardi Gras has had a colourful history.
Photo: James Brickwood

2016: The participants in the first parade receive messages of regret from the NSW government, Fairfax and the police for the horrendous treatment they received on that bleak winter's night in June 1978.

2017: First Koori Gras takes place and the City of Sydney's "Say Yes To Love" float calls for marriage equality ahead of Australia's plebiscite on the issue. In December 2017, Australia officially become the 26th country to legalise same-sex marriage after the law was passed in Federal Parliament.