It was a freezing winter's night in Sydney, 1978, when hundreds of Australians gathered at Darlinghurst's Taylor Square to champion queer acceptance and equality.

Police had given the group – dressed in frocks, quirky hats and glam makeup – permission to gather, but it didn't take long for their tolerance to run out.

By the night's end, 53 people would end up behind bars and dozens more brutally bashed at the hands of officers. This was Sydney's first Mardi Gras.

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The following morning, one of the city's most widely read newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald, published the names, addresses and occupations of those arrested.

As a result, many involved in the march were immediately fired, kicked out of home or had their tenancy agreements terminated.

Others, unable to overcome the avalanche of hate pedalled toward them by the media and community, died by suicide shortly after.

It was a time when there were no openly LGBTQ+ people in the Australian spotlight and sex between men carried a penalty of 14 years and a whipping in New South Wales.

The penalty for rape was just seven.

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