Parties As Protest

Everyone knows queers love to party. But the dance floor isn’t just a place to dance and make out with friends – it’s where you go to be with your community and connect with your queer ancestors. DJ Gemma and Ken Davis talk about the battles they fought to create the dance floors we get to dance on today.

I was voguing, and I was just feeling myself so fiercely, but I felt so safe in that moment because I knew no one else around me was judging.

Xander

Xander

The word gay was seen as a dirty word. We weren't accepted by society. We fought really hard for gay rights and Mardi Gras was born out of that. It was a political movement, it was grassroots, it came from the streets.

DJ Gemma

DJ Gemma at the long running Club 77 in Sydney.

LISTEN TO

Parties As Protest

SBS Audio

37:53English

Credits

Host: Farz Edraki

Producers: Laura Brierley Newton, Olivia O'Flynn

Sound Design and Mix: Laura Brierley Newton

Executive Producer: Kate Montague and Lorna Clarkson

Theme Music: What! By the Vovos

Art: Siena Zadro

SBS Team: Joel Supple, Max Gosford, Bernadette Phương Nam Nguyễn, Philip Soliman