It's a while since I wrote about the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. I think the last post was three years ago when we took Sara Eileen and May May. I wrote of that event:
"The parade began with a fierce celebratory lap by 250 Dykes on Bikes, who have been taking part for twenty years. The first group marching were the 78ers, who took part in the first "Mardi Gras" in 1978, a protest march in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. One of this original group, Diane Minnis, was asked by the press if she had never imagined their 1500 strong protest would morph into today's extravaganza:We've known Master Tony and Angel of Hardcore Heaven for quite a few years now - regular readers might recall sol's first singletail scene was with Master Tony. Since BDSM has been allowed back into the Mardi Gras Parade, Master Tony and Angel have put a great deal of effort into making the kink scene a high profile part of Mardi Gras. You'll find photos and videos of their previous floats here and here. Sol and I wanted to show our support for them by marching with the Hardcore Heaven float this year."Absolutely not ... but we're very glad that it did because it makes being gay, lesbian, transsexual, etcetera, very visible and that's what we still need""Note that etcetera, fellow kinksters, because that stands for you and me...
"Sol and I had actually stopped attending Mardi Gras a few years back, when the gay community's attempts to integrate into the wider suburban Australian community saw kinksters discouraged from inclusion in the parade. So it was great to see some friends marching this year in serious fetish gear ... including B in a great rope harness and Angel looking amazing in an outfit she told me later had been partially made that very day. God, I hate talented people"
We'd planned to simply be part of the crowd of kinksters walking behind the float. However when we dropped in to Master Tony and Angel's home on Friday afternoon to see if there were any float preparations we could help with, Angel asked on Master Tony's behalf whether sol might be available, if they needed an extra body on the float. When I agreed they very kindly lent us some costume items to wear on top of sol's S(A)X's leather chaps.
These included a leather and chain body harness and two chain mail pieces: a face cover and matching arm covers. I fell in love with Master Tony and Angel's chain mail at The Gathering's market night, where they had a stall. You can see their Mardi Gras chain mail costumes here. So it was marvelous to have the opportunity to see sol wearing some.
On Saturday afternoon, after our play session with MzAntonina, sol and I changed into our Mardi Gras costumes. I'd been having a bit of a dither about what to wear. Some event's, the weather is really hot, other times it's rained and been quite cold. To make matters worse I had to come up with a kinky outfit with flat footwear, because of the 2km+ walk!
So I ended up doing the riding mistress thing. As I threw my black leather gloves into a small bag MzAntonina kindly let me borrow for the evening I thought "I doubt I'll wear those". I half expected to die of overheating, wearing jodhpurs and boots, a leather corset and a long sleeved Gallery Serpentine jacket.
Wrong.
Sol looked pretty amazing. We borrowed an amazing metal spike collar from MzAntonina and MacTheKnife to complete the ensemble. Now I could add our bright red dog leash! (I also borrowed a lovely Venetian mask from MzAntonina but was terrified of it getting wet when it started raining later, so didn't wear it)
We covered sol's bare bits with a fleecy jumper and scarf to make him look presentable for the taxi that was booked to take us to the check in area for our float members. Except it didn't turn up. So a HUGE thank you to MacTheKnife who interrupted preparations for his own birthday celebrations to hop into our car with us, help sol navigate at high speed to where we needed to be, and then drive our car back :)
With Mardi Gras Parade participant armbands attached - nearly 8500 people participated in the parade - we headed into the parade's assembly area. It can be a long wait, before the parade starts, but the assembly area is always fun. You have time to catch up with friends, and also lots of people come up wanting photos with those wearing the most amazing costumes. In our float's case, Master Tony and Angel were in constant demand (another of Master Tony here by Paul Cush). As were several others, including sol, as he looked pretty amazing with his chain mail head covering. You'll find photos here and here (both by Josephine Ki) and here's one of both of us, taken by hornbag:
The theme of this year's parade was 'Say Something'. 16 of the 130 floats addressed the issue of same sex marriage. Our float focused on "Whipping Homophobia into Submission", which we rather liked:
Remember my recent post about BDSM scene / mainstream interactions? The Mardi Gras provides a similar cultural interaction point. The Hardcore Heaven float worked on similar principles to the Powerhouse Museum's "Dark Science" events - by presenting BDSM within an acceptable context that allowed the vanilla crowd to enjoy watching us all wielding floggers.
Or in Master Tony's case, the enormous over sized flogger that sol and I first saw in Michael Ney's documentary about Noel Graydon and the Australian scene, "Liberty in Restraint":
Now this huge beast of a flogger was to be used on sol.
Suddenly the already cloudy day turned cold. Those of us who had coats and scarves climbed into them. Sol put on his jumper and my scarf. Then it rained a little and we all got damp. Then the wind picked up. I was fine, especially with my leather gloves. But sol's comfort levels started to drop. He doesn't have an once of fat on him, so he chills quickly. And when he chills, he can't process pain....
We tried running on the spot. We tried brisk walks, within the enclosed area. Nothing helped the cold and sol was close to giving up. Finally we went to Master Tony and Angel for help.
Master Tony quickly took the situation in hand. First sol was placed in position and the heavy flogger used as a warm up tool. After that, he sat near the float's generator's exhaust which worked brilliantly to keep him warm. When I checked with him, he felt much better and his confidence was restored. Later sol said to me that he had a glimpse in those moments of what it would be like, being Master Tony's sub. If you presented a problem, solutions flowed back. The result was you felt well taken care of and could complete the task your Dominant had set :)
It was time for the parade to start...
Floats were positioned in the assembly area over two full street blocks, with four lanes of floats in each block. We were at the front of the very last lane, which gave us a great view as everyone moved off into the parade. Leading the way, for the first time, a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people welcomed the crowds along the entire Parade route with a traditional smoking ceremony.
Next were people the organizers felt had made an impact in the lives of people identifying as GLBTQ. They included openly gay actress Lily Tomlin, gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, as well as Melbourne schoolgirls Hannah Williams and Savannah Supski, who made headlines in 2010 when they protested against a same-sex “date ban” implemented at Hannah’s school.
Interestingly the original 78ers who had led the parade we'd watched with Sara and May three years ago, now concluded it. Their double decker bus at the end of the march drew cheers and tears from the crowd.
Just before we moved off, sol stripped down and was again placed in position. Walkers were instructed with dire warnings to stay at the back of their float but we quickly had people dancing and waving on both sides. When it became clear the organizers were not going to move our friends back, I thought "bugger it" and took the opportunity to move up on the right side of the float, so I could keep a closer eye on sol:
There was damn little I could do, if anything went wrong. He was in position for the entire parade. But I've known Master Tony a while now and trusted him implicitly.
If you'd like to get a feel for the parade, there is a twenty minute highlights video on YouTube (if you only want to see us, our float can be seen at the 17.53 time mark). If you'd like to see more of just our float, we appear for nearly half a minute in this YouTube video. Our float turns up at 12.58 and runs til 13.26. There are some lovely shots of the whole float, of Master Tony and sol, and also the kinksters walking behind. This video is also quite useful to see how the crowd builds up in the street, over several hours before the parade. You can also really get a feel for it's interactive level during the parade as well.
We also featured on the Foxtel Mardi Gras Parade coverage, which was screened live on Arena with commentators / hosts Ruby Rose and others. Our section begins at 4.40 and finishes at 7.23. I wouldn't normally be this rude but I have to say the Foxtel commentators are absolutely full of drivel during our segment (they are not talking about our float at all, rather taking the piss out of Miss Wagga Wagga who was in the parade near us - see frame 6.25). So keep the sound low until 6.35 when Ruby Rose interviews a member of our float.
The interview ends with a flogging - if you can't see the video you might enjoy this photo at least! Photos of other Hardcore Heaven float members here (Hex) and here and here (BarkAtTheMoon and Fetishque. These two were especially fun to watch). Our pony ladies are here plus more pix from our group here, here here and here (by Len Ellway) and here by Paul Cush. I'll add more links as photos show up on Fet and the internet.
I need to say right now that it's quite extraordinary walking in this particular parade.
There are hundreds of thousands of people lining the route, sometimes thirty or forty people deep, and they are extremely vocal and interactive. This was something Sara Eileen and May May commented on, when they were here:
"Although Eileen and May May have taken part in similar, larger events in New York, they found the high level of crowd participation in Sydney created a different experience. You can read May's post about the night here...That year I wasn't surprised later to hear the crowd numbered over 350,000. I think about 300,000 were expected this year. The year Sara and May were here, I'd caught the attention of Angel, who came over and gave me a smooch. She'd said to me sometime later how rare that moment was, because the crowd becomes a single entity and you rarely spot a friend. I have to agree. The crowd literally roared as we passed, everyone waving and cheering and friendly.
"the crowd didn't stop cheering and whistling for several hours, as they roared their approval and support for everyone marching. By the end of the parade we were all four of us hoarse AND deaf from all the noise.."
As I walked along I kept the float on one side and an eye on sol. Master Tony was playing the crowd like the star he is:
Angel was looking stunning, with her Florentine floggers moving in sync. And sol seemed to be going well under the flogger:
He described it later as:
"being hit by a brick ... like being hit by half a cow ... it descends from above and lands on your head and shoulders".This made me realize the chain mail pieces we'd been kindly loaned for sol to wear was another example of Master Tony and Angel's care - they'd known sol's head, neck and arms would need protection:
These photos by hornbag give an amazing idea of what was occurring. However I do recommend you take a look at those YouTube videos to get a feel for the whole float, the music, the roar of the crowd and everything else that was going on.
So how was sol doing? Sol said later he was fine until Taylor Square. He started to feel the cold badly down South Dowling St. By Anzac Parade he felt he was shaking out of control. He certainly was - he was shaking so hard I could see his ass cheeks shaking in his chaps. He did his best to control this, in part by trying to practice Tummo (Tibetan Buddhist inner heat meditation), in part by drawing on the truly extraordinary responses from the crowd. But the wind, he said later, was "freezing" up on that float.
It was a strange situation to be in, waving and smiling to the amazing crowds and yet fearful for sol. I knew that Master Tony had planned to switch fairly quickly from the over sized flogger (which is extremely difficult to handle. I could hardly even lift the thing) to single tails, which are also a crowd pleaser and are much easier to use. I was walking beside the float absolutely dreading that moment:
Because I knew sol would have trouble processing the pain in his over chilled body. But equally I knew Master Tony could not possibly keep swinging that giant flogger the entire length of that parade.
He did. Somehow, almost inhumanly, he did.
It was truly the most inspiring thing I've seen in BDSM, and another example of Master Tony's extraordinary care and expertise. And I am grateful to him beyond words.
Master Tony and sol on the HCH floatWith the crowd of delighted thousands behind us, we finally reached the end of the parade. The Mardi Gras is extremely well organized, and the thousands of participants and over a hundred floats before us had almost completely cleared the area by the time we arrived. Within fifteen minutes - in major part due to Master Tony's care during the parade - sol was feeling better and we were heading back to MzAntonina's (where our car was) in a warm taxi. sol's final comment:
"it was the hardest thing I've done but I am really glad to have done it".I am so very, very proud of my boy.
Mardi Gras 2011 was really the most amazing night. We caught up with many old friends and made many new ones, and both had the experience of a lifetime.
We'd again like to thank Master Tony and Angel for their many kindnesses and expertise, and for generously sharing such a wonderful experience with us.
Thank you:
Master Tony and Angel
MzAntonina and MacTheKnife
and a special thank you to
the best photographer of the night:
hornbag
Master Tony and Angel
MzAntonina and MacTheKnife
and a special thank you to
the best photographer of the night:
hornbag
Photos:
sol and Ms160 at the assembly area x 3
Master Tony and sol on the HCH float x 5
Master Tony and sol on the HCH float, Ms160 walking beside x 2
courtesy: hornbag
Master Tony from Liberty In Restraint
courtesy: Liberty In Restraint website
sol and Ms160 at the assembly area x 3
Master Tony and sol on the HCH float x 5
Master Tony and sol on the HCH float, Ms160 walking beside x 2
courtesy: hornbag
Master Tony from Liberty In Restraint
courtesy: Liberty In Restraint website
1 comments:
Mistress 160,
Wow! That looks like you had an amazing time at an amazing parade. Owner and i have never been to Australia but if ever we do we'll definitely have to time it to coincide with Mardi Gras.
Great outfits by the way.
P
x
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