Anthony Albanese becomes first Australian PM to march in Sydney Mardi Gras

Albanese is the first sitting prime minister to join the parade, which celebrates and continues to push for equality for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Mardi Gras has returned to its spiritual home on Oxford Street for the first time in three years after it was moved to Sydney Cricket Ground in 2021 and 2022 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

This is a huge milestone for the LBTGQI+ community, said Micah Scott, the chief executive of Minus 18, a charity that supports queer youth.

Tushar Kanti Baidya travelled all the way from Bangladesh, where homosexuality is criminalised, to march for the first time.

Wearing a traditional kurta and waving the Bangladeshi flag, he said being in Sydney for WorldPride had allowed him to feel pride and celebrate his identity without fear.

Thirty-two members of Tamworth Pride travelled more than 250 miles (400km) from the small city north of Sydney to ride in their first dedicated float down Oxford Street.

As much as the march is a celebration of queer identity, participants say it is still a protest movement.

Blair Tilbrook, who marched down Oxford Street under the banner of an organisation he started called Everyday Ability, said the group had marched to raise awareness of discrimination confronting queer people who live with a disability.

Alongside him, wearing the disability pride flag on his shirt, was Andrew Nicholson, who lives with an intellectual disability.