Maeve: Hi, I’m Maeve Marsden and you’re listening to Queerstories. This week Bev Lange volunteered on the Fair Day Committee for Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras and then went on to chair Fair Day and the Parade before 5 years on the Board with 3 years as President. Bev also volunteered as a Director on the boards of the Centenary of Federation, ncoss, Sydney Gay Games and more recently the Stepping Out Program and Human Society International (Australia). Bev lead the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, was Director of Communications and Major Events for Transport NSW, and the Chief Operating Officer for Macleay College. During her 15-year career as a consultant, Bev has assisted organisations with workplace productivity coaching; communication planning; governance; strategic development and general management. In July 2018 she joined Elder Abuse Action Australia as its Executive Officer.
Bev: I was a fairly late bloomer in discovering my queer community beyond my immediate circle of friends and partner, but when I found Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras it was life changing experience. Just like it has been for many others before and after me from 1978 to now. It was all consuming, passionate and a vertical learning curve. Full of people and experiences I’d never imagined would be possible or knew that I could do.
I had little knowledge of ‘Mardi Gras’ and all that it was. I was running a small business processing films and printing photographs, selling frames, photo albums in small shop Balmain. Not knowing much, I thought a gay and lesbian business expo would be a great idea, so off I trotted off to meet Cath Philips, the then General Manager at Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.
From that conversation led to my involvement with Fair Day, bringing businesses into the heady mix of community organisations, the infamous Dog Show and of course Miss Fair Day.
I continued my love of Fair Day as a committee member and then as chair of the Fair Day Committee.
So it’s February the start of the 1996 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Festival. Free, Gay and Happy was the theme. Seventeen thousand people on the steps of the Opera House to launch the month-long festival, 50,000 people at Fair Day, lots of queer visual and performing arts, Harbour Party, community events, and of course the Mardi Gras Party. More of that in a moment.
As the festival ran its course I had two jobs, one as President of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and the other was running my retail business. At that time digital photography was unknown, smartphones didn’t exist and people used cameras to take photos.Â
At Local Colour we printed photographs that encompassed all the experiences people have in their lives – weddings, parties, anything. Weddings were every day – a business that brought Japanese couples to Sydney to marry in a particular way – rolls royces transporting the bride and groom to Mrs Macquaries Point for photographs in tuxedos and long gowns. Parties speak for themselves, and the Anything was a customer who came in on Saturday mornings with a film of photos John transition to Katherine and the wonderful conversations we’d have over years. Anything was also customers who came to me from the Toolsheds for films they couldn’t send to the local chemist.Â
The connections created in my local community were definitely in parallel with my Mardi Gras immersion.
But back to the Party. The Party Committee had organised for Thelma Houston to perform at the party. It was strongly suggested that I meet Thelma and her entourage at Sydney Airport as part of the welcome to Mardi Gras. I had never met a celebrity of any sort to that point and had no idea what to say or do. Regardless, there I was in the back of a limousine with Thelma, her manager and one of Thelma’s singers. They asked what Mardi Gras was like, particularly the party. So I talked about the protest nature of the organisation, some history, the festival, and of course the Party. I said the party will have more than twenty thousand people on the site across three venues. That eight thousand people would be waiting for Thelma to perform, most of whom would have been partying for some hours and very eager for a show!
We took Thelma and her crew to the Observatory Hotel where they were staying and were joined by my partner Helen and some of the Party Committee. Drinks were had, Helen asked Thelma about some of her albums and music, much to Thelma’s surprise as she’d forgotten some of the albums Helen mentioned. Thankfully I have a partner who knows lots about music! It was a great start to her visit
Fast forward to the Party, Thelma’s performance of Don’t Leave Me This Way was electrifying and as they say the crowd went wild. I got a radio message saying Thelma wouldn’t leave backstage until she saw me so she could thank me for the experience, for the invitation and what a great event the Mardi Gras Party was. I was gobsmacked. She then invited us to a show she was doing at Pier One and we gave her a video of her party show.
Volunteering in Mardi Gras can often be an extreme sport and a very rewarding one. The satisfaction is beyond expectation, are at least that was and is my experience, started me on the road to an event management, a career change, community politics, wonderful people and life-long friends.Â
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