‘It’s about standing with us when it’s uncomfortable’: World Pride, advocacy and corporate dollars
As Sydney World Pride officially kicks off its celebrations, Mumbrella’s Kalila Welch spoke to Sydney World Pride’s Kate Wickett and The Sydney Mardi Gras’ Albert Kruger, about how the organisers have worked with corporate partners to ensure the LGBTQIA+ community remains at the heart of the globally scaled festival.
Sydney city’s streets have been draped in rainbow in anticipation for the nation’s biggest ever queer party, which kicks off today.
Over three huge weeks Sydney World Pride is expected to draw in 500,000 participants in the celebrations, including 78,000 visitors, a welcome crowd for the event’s government partner, Destination NSW.
Sydney World Pride CEO, Kate Wickett says the festival provides “incredibly important visibility” for Australia’s LGBTQIA+ community on the world stage and is “an opportunity for everyone to unite and celebrate together”.
As a member of the rainbow community who has a background in sponsorships and marketing, I well understand the need for corporate cash to fund Pride.
Some questions for Pride management:
1) How many of these corporate supporters will be fair-weather allies and disappear the moment Pride has finished? How many have pledged, contractually, to support Mardi Gras (and the queer community) in the longer term?
2) How much (if any) of the profit generated by Pride will be redirected back into sustaining Mardi Gras? Will an endowment be created?
3) Beyond Insta-worthy branding and collabs, how is sponsor money being used to subsidise access to Pride, to ensure the greatest participation possible? (Tickets to parties within Mardi Gras and Pride remain prohibitively expensive. For example, the cheapest After Party tickets are $155, and the World Pride Human Rights Conference costs $1500).
4) How many places and participant numbers are corporate floats occupying in this year’s parade, and how do those ratios compare to previous years?
As has been reported, dozens of LGBTIQA+ community groups had their float applications rejected, on spurious grounds. I can say with confidence that Salesforce and AMEX marching up Oxford St in branded costumes is not going to magically make the lived queer experience any better than before…
This is the biggest queer celebration in Australian history. It’s also an unprecedented commercial opportunity. Let’s hope Pride management have a strategy in place to deliver a meaningful return to the very community the event is intended to serve.