Mardi Gras Flag Spinning

Here I am, Tracie O’Keefe, spinning flags, rainbow flags, at Mardi Gras Fair day in Sydney, 2017. Mardi Gras is a celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and sex and/or gender diverse people held once a year in Sydney, Australia.

It is also a public protest, started in 1978, for equal civil rights for all those people. The rainbow flag symbolises pride in a person’s identity with each colour representing the diversity of sex, gender and sexuality diverse people.

Spinning flags is popular in religious, devotional and spiritual practices. I was spinning the flags behind the pink hearts laid out on the grass that represent Australia’s fight for equal marriage rights for everyone.

At this time Australia still does not have equal marriage rights even though North America, Canada, much of Europe and many other countries do. All people deserve equals rights to marry and form a family before the law. That fight for equal rights should also consider political intersectionality and have regard for all people, animals and the planet.