At the end of this year, board elections will be held for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. It’s time for some girl power! International model and activist Ollie Henderson and Heaps Gay founder Kat Dopper hope to provide just that.
Splitting her time between a huge number of projects such as running her fashion label/political outreach organisation House Of Riot, her work with domestic violence advocacy group Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced, sitting on the board of Vibewire, and working with NGOs such as OxFam and Acon, Ollie Henderson is about as active member of the LGBTQI community as you can get.
Heaps Gay Founder Kat Dopper is also joining the campaign to run for the board: “I want to connect Mardi Gras with youth,” she tells LOTL. “Through music, working with promoters and venues on Oxford Street, creating events in the Inner West, working with the wider community, listening to what youth are into to, I want to create events and experiences that are accessible, relevant and affordable. The current pricing of events alienates half of the LGBTIQA community, especially young people.”
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Ollie Henderson lists her 5 favourite things about Mardi Gras as she prepares to run for election to the festival’s Board Of Directors.
Splitting her time between a huge number of projects such as running her fashion label/political outreach organisation House Of Riot, her work with domestic violence advocacy group Sexual Violence Won’t Be Silenced, sitting on the board of Vibewire, and working with NGOs such as OxFam and Acon, Ollie Henderson is about as active member of the LGBTQI community as you can get.
A woman of diverse interests to say the least, underlying all her wide range of social and political endeavors is a dedication to social justice and diversity. Recently announcing that she will be running for election to the Mardi Gras Board Of Directors, Henderson is an ideal candidate to re-focus the event on it’s history of radical politics and protest.
So with her candidacy still fresh from the oven, we caught up with her to ask her what she loves about Mardi Gras, and what she wants to see more of.
1) Political Action
Mardi Gras is a time for celebration, but we should never forget where we came from or those who don’t have the same opportunities as us. Every year without doubt, I will end up in tears of gratitude for those who have fought before me and tears of sympathy in the knowledge that the fight continues for many. Let’s not loose ourselves in the glitter.
2) Indigenous Involvement
From the First Australians Float to Klub Koori, LGBTIQ+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have had great contributions to Mardi Gras. We should be working with our indigenous communities year round, not just in Sydney, but across Australia to see more unity and representation under our flag.
3) Education
Mardi Gras is a great time to learn and to teach. We can learn about our own community and further explore ourselves. But this is also the time to teach others about the LGBTIQ+ community, through education we foster acceptance and harmony. Queer Thinking is one of my favourite parts of Mardi Gras, I look forward to seeing it grow.
4) Decentralisation
Many people think that Mardi Gras starts and ends on Oxford Street, but there are many parties and events across the city celebrating gay Christmas. I would love to see the festivities extended further into the west and beyond.
5) Inclusivity
Anyone in the LGBTIQ+ community know that the our rainbow covers ALL the colours, and Mardi Gras should be no exception. The festival caters to diversity, but we can always do better. I would love to see Mardi Gras move towards a more inclusive community driven festival.
Kat Dopper speaks about what she hopes to bring to the festival if elected to the Board of Directors.
Spending the better part of the last decade working in events and building her own event brand and community Heaps Gay from the ground up over the past three years, Kat Dopper is now running for election to the Mardi Gras Board Of Directors.
Having built an all inclusive community through events, charity support and an online platform HeapsGay.com, which allows young members of the community to showcase their work, Kat hopes to bring these skills to bear on Mardi Gras in order to make it relevant, accessible, and affordable for everyone in the community.
“I think its lost its way a little and needs some love,” she explains, hoping that “by collaborating with other board members, I can bring my experience in events and the youth market to the table.”
The problem as Dopper sees it is that while the event is still one of the biggest and most iconic Queer events in the world, as it has become a draw card for tourists and the parade gets bigger every year it has also lost touch with the grass roots community here at home
“Mardi Gras is one of the most iconic organisations in Australia, it brings 20,000+ people from the community together for one day a year to celebrate diversity, but I think it is very disconnected from the full LGBTQIA community in Australia as a whole,” Dopper explains.
“I want to run for Mardi Gras to help diversify the whole program,” she elaborates. “I want to make it accessible to not just one part of our community but for all. There should be events for the L’s, G’s, B’s, T’s, I’s, Q’s, the A’s.”
Hoping to re-connect with those members of the community who have turned away from the event, as well as engage people who have never been a part of it in the first place, most of all Dopper aims to open up the event for young people.
“I want to connect Mardi Gras with youth,” she tells me. “Through music, working with promoters and venues on oxford street, creating events in the inner west, working with the wider community, listening to what youth are into to, I want to create events and experiences that are accessible, relevant and affordable. The current pricing of events alienates half of the LGBTIQA community, especially young people.”
Tenacious in her plans to update and re-invigorate the event, Dopper also intends to expand Mardi Gras, thus making it more visible and present within the community year round.
“Mardi Gras should be amazing and visible for more that one day of the year,” she states with resolution. “There is no reason why Mardi Gras isn’t seen as the big guy who support the rest of the community throughout the year, it should the go to place for every queer”
Despite her high ambitions for the event, she nevertheless has a lot of respect for it’s history, in particular it’s radical roots. For Dopper, ensuring the festival’s not lose sight of this is very important.
“Mardi Gras started as a protest back in 1978 and it has lost its way a little. I want to bridge that gap between what Mardi Gras used to be and what it is today,” she says, adding that “it should be a celebration of diversity but still stay true to its political roots.”
