Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras began with a riot. On a chilly winter's night in 1978, the police descended on a vibrant protest gathering in solidarity with the Stonewall protests in New York.;xNLx;;xNLx;Today, Mardi Gras is one of Australia’s most famous and well-loved events, bringing thousands of visitors to Sydney to join in the celebrations.;xNLx;;xNLx;This timeline will reveal four decades of Mardi Gras protests and passion, each year with its own trials and triumphs in creating this unique life-affirming kaleidoscope of celebration and self-expression.
The first Mardi Gras march ended in violence, but the police crackdown fired up a community who would no longer be silent.
Mardi Gras' second year included a film festival, a Gay Alternative Fair and a dance party at Balmain Town Hall.
Mardi Gras expanded in 1980, revising the Parade route, introducing parade marshals and instituting a post-Parade Party, which was held at Paddington Town Hall.
Crowds of up to 5,000 celebrated the first Mardi Gras Parade to happen in summer.
1982's Mardi Gras theme reflected the ongoing struggle for homosexual law reform.
By 1983, Mardi Gras was beginning to get noticed beyond the gay and lesbian community.
With its two major fundraising events the Mardi Gras Party and Sleaze Ball a raging success, Mardi Gras delivered a record $42,000 surplus.
At the midpoint of the 1980s, the now three-week Mardi Gras Festival was held against the backdrop of increasingly hysterical media reporting of HIV/AIDS.
In June 1986,following the most successful season so far, Sydney Gay Mardi Gras became an incorporated association.
The 10th Mardi Gras continued the festival's massive growth, culminating in an estimated 100,000 people attending the parade - doubling the previous year's crowd.
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