Speaker: Diane
Job title: Vice President of Global Outreach
Company: First Mardi Gras 78ers

About the spreaker
In 1973, Australia witnessed the world’s first union strike for gay and lesbian rights and hosted its first national Gay Pride Week, during which Diane was arrested. The police attack on the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 1978 galvanised our community. Diane was active in the Gay Solidarity Group, which organised the event and The Drop the Charges campaign which followed. Diane served as an elected Board member of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for three years in the 2000s and helped establish the Pride History Group in 2003. In 2017, Diane co-founded First Mardi Gras, for participants in the first Mardi Gras, and served as Co-Chair for five years. Since 2020, Diane has been active in InterPride as a Global Advisory Council rep, and from 2024, as Vice President of Global Outreach. From 2022, Diane has served as Co-President of Oceania Pride Organisers.