On 10 June 2026, members of our community wrote to Mardi Gras directors Damien Nguyen and Luna Choo.
The letter is not about Palestine, policing or sponsorship. It is about one line our community should never cross: calling for the death of anyone.
The full letter is below.
10th June 2026
Dear Damien Nguyen and Luna Choo,
We are writing to you in the spirit of community but with serious concern.
In late April, around the time of ANZAC Day, the Pride in Protest social media accounts published a post that included the words “Glory to all our martyrs. Death to the Defence Forces, ‘Israeli’ and ‘Australian’.”
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 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.
We are not writing about whether you agree with Pride in Protest on Palestine, on policing, on sponsorship or on the direction Mardi Gras should take. 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. If we do cross it, we lose people, allies, and the moral standing that has made Mardi Gras one of the most powerful queer institutions in the world.
We are asking you to do three things right away.
First, clarify publicly whether you saw or approved the post before it was published, and whether the calls for death expressed in it are views you hold or endorse. The two of you are the most visible faces of Pride in Protest’s presence at the Mardi Gras. Members and the broader community should know where you stand.
Second, use whatever influence you have inside Pride in Protest to have the post removed and a public apology issued. If you personally condemn what was said, we ask you to say so publicly, and to ask Pride in Protest to do the same.
Third, if Pride in Protest will not retract and apologise, we ask you to distance yourselves from the organisation publicly and completely. 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.
The community cannot walk past a call for violence inside our own community without saying anything. We hope you will respond publicly as above, and we hope your response makes this letter unnecessary in retrospect.
This letter is being provided today to the Mardi Gras Board and CEO, to MPs and to media.
With hope for a more peaceful and productive future,
Peter Murphy – 78er & co-founder Protect Mardi Gras
Jasmine Nightingale – Transgender Advocate
Titi Chartay – 78er
Meredith Knight – 78er
Steve Warren – 78er
John Witte – 78er
Garry Wotherspoon – 78er
Peter de Waal – 78er
Gary Schliemann – 78er
Christopher Lewis – 78er
William Weller – Trans & Queer Activist
Peter Stahel – co-founder Protect Mardi Gras
Katherine Wolfgramme – Trans Advocate
Nick Brodie – Volunteer & community member
Brendon Beavan – Event producer & community member
Jacob van Tienen – Member
Stephen Close – Volunteer, community member and defence family member
David Morley – Community member
William Robert Klaasen – Volunteer, member and PLWH/A advocate
Aaron Hammond – Member and Defence Veteran
Kate Rowe – 78er and community advocate
Jared Price – Community member
Tom Rogers – Member
Ben Maudlin – Member
Richard Davies – 78er
Matthew Roberts – Sex worker and community member
Robert Pickavance – Member and Defence Veteran
Patrick Seedsman – Community member
Mick Jansen – Member and Defence Veteran
Rodney Carritt – Member
Doug Markey – Member
Gail Hewison – 78er
Rob B – LGBTQIA Advocate and Veteran
Louis Hudson – Volunteer, Member, Board Director 2019-2025
Peter Cassidy – Member
Leo Hardiman – Community member
Virginia Mansel Lees – Community member
Paul Savage – Former Board director and Co-Chair
Lucas Adasnow – Member and Defence Veteran
Jane Marsden – Member, Volunteer and Former Director
Brett Hayhoe – InterPride Imeritus Council Member
David Pieper – Member and Float Producer
Aiden O’Dea – Member, Volunteer and Volunteer of the year 2020
Robert Neaves – 78er
Lisa Martin – Member
David Pysden – Community member and volunteer since 1993
Robert Beetson – Member and Volunteer since 1994
Kirk Muddle – Parade Volunteer and Board Member 2000 – 2010
Peta Friend – Co-Founder Trans Pride Australia
Teresa Leggett – Member and Float Producer
Daniel Floyd/Penny Tration – Community Member & Performer
Robert Hardy – Member
Stefan Elliott – Member, designer and volunteer since 1999
Add your name
If you agree there is no version of “death to” that belongs at Mardi Gras, you can add your name to this letter.
Email protectmardigras78@gmail.com with your name and a few words on how you’d like to be described (for example “community member”, “volunteer since 1998”, “78er”). We will add names in batches, so yours may take some time to appear.