Oxford Street & the First Mardi Gras Route (1978) ⚠ Unverified Own this place?

On the night of 24 June 1978, a crowd gathered at Taylor Square and marched down Oxford Street to mark the Stonewall anniversary. Police seized the lead truck, the march moved on to Kings Cross, and it ended in violence: 53 people were arrested and some were beaten in the cells at Darlinghurst Police Station. The Sydney Morning Herald then printed the arrestees' names, and many lost jobs and families as a result. The marchers came back the next year and every year since. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is now one of the world's biggest LGBTQ events, and the original marchers, the 78ers, lead the parade. NSW Parliament formally apologised to them in 2016. Oxford Street is still the centre of gay Sydney, and a permanent rainbow crossing has marked Taylor Square since 2019.