Former Greens senator Lidia Thorpe will march in this year’s Mardi Gras parade, joining the ‘No Pride in Genocide’ float.
Pride in Protest, a LGBTQIA+ activist group and the organisers of the float, made the announcement on Instagram on Thursday afternoon.
A representative of Senator Thorpe confirmed to NCA NewsWire that she would be taking part in the parade in Sydney on Saturday night.
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.
They will hold a press conference at Sydney Town Hall at 4pm before the protest.
It’s not confirmed whether Senator Thorpe will be attending the press conference.