First Sydney Gay Mardi Gras

On the night of 24 June 1978 a street party for gay rights set off along Oxford Street in Darlinghurst, part of a day marking the Stonewall anniversary. When police blocked its way to Hyde Park the crowd marched to Kings Cross, where 53 people were arrested and a newspaper later printed their names. New South Wales decriminalised sex between men in 1984, and the parade became an annual festival.