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January 21, 2026 — 6:07pm
Two former board members of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board have condemned the organisation’s decision to defy its members after resolutions focusing on transgender rights, anti-discrimination law reform and funding were passed at the latest annual general meeting.
In an email to members on Tuesday – signed by Mardi Gras co-chairs Kathy Pavlich, Mits Delisle and the board and seen by the Herald – the organisation said it would not implement those resolutions as they did not “align” with the organisation’s values.
“After careful consideration, the board has resolved that it will not implement the operational elements of the relevant resolutions,” the email read. “This decision reflects the board’s obligations under Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission governance standards and the need to ensure all decisions align with Mardi Gras’ values, strategic priorities, and long-term sustainability.”
The email also said that following the AGM, held on November 29 last year, board members and staff had become targets of “personal and harmful commentary online, as well as a co-ordinated email campaign seeking to influence governance and decision-making. Some public claims have been factually incorrect, and their repetition has caused distress to our people”.
Former board members Charlie Murphy and Luc Velez criticised the board’s decision to ignore members’ wishes.
“Mardi Gras is choosing to deliberately defy their membership and the motions they passed, when in the past they have partially followed through with them. This is a deliberate choice to abandon the trans community politically,” Murphy said.
The struck resolutions include recommendations that transgender rights be made a central focus of the 2026 parade, as well as condemning the Trump administration, and requesting the board write to the federal and state governments calling for anti-discrimination law reform, informing parliamentarians they will not be welcomed at the parade and Fair Day if they do not commit to this reform in a timely manner.
A resolution for Mardi Gras to “pursue a funding model under which Mardi Gras would become 100 per cent publicly funded, transitioning entirely away from corporate sponsorship and partnerships” was also ignored.
Evan Gray, who moved the transgender rights and anti-discrimination law reform resolutions and is a spokesperson for Pride in Protest, said the board’s position was “spitting in the face of trans people” and membership by “picking this horrendous fight in the lead-up to the season”.
“The Mardi Gras board are attacking the trans community by framing us as ‘intimidating’, that our rights are an ‘imposition’, and pretending that trans rights are against the nature of Mardi Gras, which has advocacy of LGBT rights in the bloody constitution,” Gray said.
Gray said if the board does not revisit the decision, the community would be “forced” to hold an extraordinary general meeting.
The board was approached for comment but did not respond by time of publication. The Mardi Gras parade is on February 28.
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