From The First Lady

by Leslie

(The Gender Centre advise that this article may not be current and as such certain content, including but not limited to persons, contact details and dates may not apply. Where legal authority or medical related matters are cited, responsibility lies with the reader to obtain the most current relevant legal authority and/or medical publication.)

It was the 27th February, and all the hard work was about to culminate in a triumphal parade. I wish I could say it was solely for us, but it was the 21st Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.

Proudly, the "T* Café" made it's way up Liverpool Street, into Oxford Street, through the hundreds of thousands of spectators, lots gay, the rest just very happy, winding its way along Flinders Street, via Anzac Avenue into Driver Avenue and down to the Showground.

The "T* Cafe", "T" being for Transgender, and Terrific and Topical, and any other positive "T" word you like to use, was the result of weeks of hard work by a small, dedicated team of volunteers, coordinated by Cindii Edwards, and showed what can be achieved given enthusiasm, creativity, skill and determination.

As we proceeded along the parade route, silk flowers advertising the Gender Centre were distributed to the assembled multitudes and many toasts were drunk to the joy of the evening. The "T*Cafe" was quite definitely an up-market establishment. Its patrons being stylish dressed, albeit with an occasional raffish air, but quite certainly one of the floats of the evening.

Polare is published in Australia by The Gender Centre Inc. which is funded by the Department of Community Services under the S.A.A.P. Program and supported by the N.S.W. Health Department through the AIDS and Infectious Diseases Branch. Polare provides a forum for discussion and debate on gender issues. Advertisers are advised that all advertising is their responsibility under the Trade Practices Act. Unsolicited contributions are welcome, though no guarantee is made by the Editor that they will be published, nor any discussion entered into. The editor reserves the right to edit such contributions without notification. Any submission which appears in Polare may be published on our internet site. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor, The Gender Centre Inc.I, the Department of Community Services or the N.S.W. Department of Health.