It’s more than a streak, 2022

The Department of Homo Affairs (DOHA)

DOHA was born in response to Australia’s border force, and is a parody of institutional power and authority. We monitor the borders of Mardi Gras to maintain the radical protest culture that has been foundational to that event.

DOHA’s creative practice is energised by participating in grass-roots, anti-colonial organising.

In 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement had momentous expression worldwide. Protests on this continent focused on historical and ongoing Blak deaths in custody due to police brutality and the over policing of First Nations people. We listened to Aboriginal abolitionists, understanding that the institution of the police, with its historical roots reaching back to 1789, cannot be reformed, but must be abolished. We listened to queer Aboriginal people whose safety and accessibility to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was impacted by the presence of police inside and outside the parade. We listened to 78’ers and understood it was their experiences of police brutality that was the basis of the first Mardi Gras. We also listened to activists from Pride in Protest as they agitated from inside the Mardi Gras organisation and board to prevent police from marching in uniform at the parade. We hoped to support these efforts and amplify these critiques.