The Co-Chairs have refused the democratic mandate from the Annual General Meeting held just two months ago, and have moved to censure two Pride in Protest-endorsed Board members, including the organisation's only trans board member

Mardi Gras Co-Chairs move to silence trans board members

The Socialist Bulletin Staff - 28/1/2026

Photo: By MDRX - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

THE Board of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has continued their ongoing push against transgender community members, by moving to censure the Board's only trans woman - Luna Choo - as well as one other pro-trans Board member, Damien Nguyen, both endorsed by activist group Pride in Protest.

Ms Choo and Mr Nguyen were elected to the Mardi Gras Board with the highest vote in the organisation's history, at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) which also endorsed acting positively on trans rights.

According to Ms Choo, since becoming a member of the Board just two months ago, she has 'been called a man, locked out of [her] emails, [and was] chastised for communicating to members on the issue of transgender rights'. This is an appalling violation of the Mardi Gras constitution, which endorses trans rights, and has deeply damaged trust in the Board.

Ms Choo's claims have been supported by the fact that the motion to censure her and Mr Nguyen, moved by Board Co-Chairs Mits Delisle and Kathy Pavlich, misgenders her multiple times, and fails to use her correct pronouns once.

Delisle and Pavlich's actions make a mockery of Mardi Gras, an event that has been trans-inclusive since the very beginning. Prominent 78er and organiser of the first Mardi Gras, Ken Davis has stated that 'the democratic decisions of the AGM and the election should be respected'.

Previously, pro-Trans Board members were locked out of their Mardi Gras emails for voicing support for trans rights, and the Mardi Gras Co-Chairs sent anti-trans emails to members of the organisation and the public.

Pride in Protest, the group that endorsed and organised Ms Choo and Mr Nguyen's campaign to be elected to the Board, has demanded that the Mardi Gras board issue a formal apology to the trans community, and has threatened an Extraordinary General Meeting if the Co-Chairs continue to disrespect the democratic nature of the organisation.

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