Eyewitness News: News file footage of first Mardi Gras

Title:
Eyewitness News: News file footage of first Mardi Gras
NFSA ID
613914
Year
1978
Courtesy
Network Ten
Access fees

This Eyewitness News file footage was captured on the evening of the first Mardi Gras in Sydney on 24 June 1978.

The clip is mostly silent and includes footage of a street march by lesbian and gay protesters, some of whom are then violently arrested by police in Kings Cross.

The clip ends with a statement by NSW Premier Neville Wran.

Read Ken Davis' first-hand account of the first Mardi Gras, a pivotal moment in Australian social and political history. 

Ken Davis is visible in the clip, wearing 'radical drag' – a country-style brown and orange dress (at approximately 00:08-00:14).