Misdumma Pride March
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (17:59): Last Sunday I had the great pleasure of participating in the Midsumma Pride March. I think it was my seventh or eighth time marching. Hundreds of community groups across Melbourne marched in solidarity and support for our LGBTI+ community.
I saw several members from this place, including Ms Taylor, Ms Shing and Mr Davis, and of course the Premier. The Reason Party this year marched to the tune of an original song by the wonderful David Peake called Love is the Reason, sung by the super-talented Jacob Leaney. And let me tell you, it is one hell of an ear worm. Hear it once and it is with you forever!
I want to express my thanks to my Reason Party manager, Emma Sinclair, who stayed up all night ironing sparkly transfers onto T-shirts for us and who coordinated what I thought was the best march yet. Thousands of Melburnians lined the streets to cheer us on, and I quite honestly tried to hug every single one of them.
The march is of course one of the key events of the Midsumma Festival, Australia’s premier queer arts and cultural festival. The festival, now in its 33rd year, runs until 9 February and has a huge program of events that centre around hidden and mainstream queer culture, local and international events. It covers a diverse range of art forms and genres, including visual arts, live music, theatre, spoken word, cabaret and film.
I would like to congratulate festival director and CEO, Karen Bryant, all of her team and all of the volunteers for putting together a cracker of a program this year. Thanks to everyone who came and stood in support— (Time expired)
Fiona Patten MP
Leader of Reason
Member for Northern Metropolitan Region
Members statement 6/2/20