An open letter has been sent to the Mardi Gras Board, MPs and members of the media regarding a social media post by Pride in Protest.
The open letter from Protect Mardi Gras (PMG) has been co-signed by multiple members of the 78ers as well as other activists.
Addressed to Mardi Gras board members Damien Nguyen and Luna Choo, the letter says it is writing with “serious concern.”
The concern relates to an ANZAC Day post by Pride in Protest (PiP) regarding the memorial day for Australia’s veterans and armed forces.
In the multi-image post, PiP says of ANZAC Day that “so-called Australia comes together to glorify war and imperialism. War criminal Ben Roberts-Smith vows to take part in ANZAC Day commemorations too.”
Roberts-Smith was arrested in April and charged with five counts of the war crime of murder, allegedly committed during his time serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
The post goes on to mention a number of other grievances with Australia’s military, before crucially, for this letter, saying: “Glory to all our martyrs. Death to the Defence Forces, ‘Israeli’ and Australian.”
It is that phrase that has spurred the open letter sent out today.
“The incitement of violence, a call for the death of any group of people, does not belong anywhere in our rainbow community. We hope you agree,” the letter reads.
“The queer movement that brought us all to this point was built in the face of organised violence and oppression. We know what it is to be on the receiving end of it. That experience is precisely why we cannot accept any version of ‘death to’ rhetoric, directed at anyone, dressed up in any politics or agenda.”
The letter says it is not writing to attack PiP’s views on policing, sponsorship, or its views on what direction Mardi Gras should take, saying:
“Those are legitimate debates and they will continue.”
“We are writing about something more precise and even more serious. Calls for the death of anyone are a line our community should not cross and should not be seen to cross – ever.”
The open letter calls for Nguyen and Choo to publicly clarify whether they saw and/or approved the post and whether they endorsed the views expressed.
It also asks for the post to be removed, and if Pride in Protest will not retract and apologise, it calls for Nguyen and Choo to distance themselves from them.
“Your directorships are with Mardi Gras. The members who voted for you, and the wider community watching this Board, deserve to know whether or not you condemn calls for violence,” it reads.
The post by PiP did draw attention at the time, with conservative talk-back host Ben Fordham discussing it on 2GB a few days afterwards.
The post also attracted numerous comments on Facebook, with many people saying they would report it to the Australian Federal Police as hate speech.
The AFP was unable to confirm if any reports had been made and if there was an ongoing investigation in time for publication.
Co-founder of PMG and 78er Peter Murphy said the debate on 2GB was one of the reasons the open letter was written.
“Thankfully, it didn’t go viral, but unfortunately it got aired on 2GB, which has a bit of an audience, and an audience which is maybe hostile to our community,” he said.
Murphy said he couldn’t understand why they would post it on ANZAC Day, and that it displayed a sense of recklessness.
“My reading is that the group who did this are very reckless, and it’s likely a playfulness with words without thinking through who their audience is, what the context is, and really how it will land.”
Murphy told GSD that he hoped the letter would result in a constructive conversation with Luna and Damien and a pathway to move forward in co-existence.
“The best path would be for Luna and Damien to really consider what we’ve said seriously and to respond constructively, that would be the best path forward,” he said.
But if they did dig their heels in about the post, Murphy said it would be up to the community to see it and make their own judgements.
“If it’s the other way, then our community as a whole should see this and can draw the conclusion that the Pride in Protest group is really a danger to our ongoing community in terms of our relations with the broader society.”
A PiP spokesperson told GSD that the language they used was addressed at institutions that have “have documented histories of colonial violence.
“The post referenced is clearly calling for an end to murder and violence by dismantling the IDF and ADF. The term ‘martyr’ is used to refer to all victims of Israel’s genocide,” they said.
“For many, calling for the death of an institution is confronting language. That’s a deliberate decision. War crimes are confronting. Cutting people off the NDIS is confronting. We all should be confronted.”
