Amid all the glitter and glowsticks, the Mardi Gras parade will return to its activist roots in the face of a global push to roll back transgender rights.
In a sobering message ahead of Saturday's annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, organisers warn freedoms are fragile for sexual minorities around the world.
"The global stage at the moment is now frightening, erasure of our communities is happening - there is no doubt about that," Mardi Gras board co-chair Brandon Bear said on Friday.
"Now more than ever we have to galvanise, we have to support our trans family, we have to work to stamp out racism in our communities, we have to show up.
"If we lose focus, we lose our rights."
The rallying cry comes weeks after US President Donald Trump signed multiple executive orders targeting transgender people, setting down a clear marker for his second term.
They included orders to exclude transgender athletes from female-designated sporting competitions, barring transgender people from the military and banning federal funding for gender-affirming care for those under 19 years of age.
In Australia, Queensland's new Liberal National government put a pause on patients under 18 accessing gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers while a review is carried out.
Kathy Pavlich, the Mardi Gras board's other co-chair, emphasised that queer rights had historically been gained through protest and other means.
"For all of our history, we have taken to the streets, to the courtrooms, to the legislative chambers and of course the dance floors to ensure the freedoms we have and we enjoy: free to love, free to live and free to be," she said.
"Now (there is) the need for us to rally behind our trans folks to ensure their rights.
"No one is free until we are all free to be."
The Sydney parade, which caps off one of the world's largest LGBTQI festivals, has its origin in a 1978 march to highlight discrimination against the queer community.
The heavy-handed and violent police response to that march drew national attention, spurring an annual event that now includes more than 10,000 participants and draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.
Ms Pavlich pointed to other historical examples of solidarity in action, such as the non-profit group Dykes on Bikes.
Donning black leather vests and riding on brawny motorbikes, the group began as a movement to protect gay men in Australia from rampant homophobic bashings in the 1980s.
President Kendal Walton, who rides a Ducati, said ushering in the first float of the parade for three decades held significance for her and fellow members as a sign of unity.
"We have long been advocates for the trans community ... we attend local council trans and gender diverse events ... because they've had pressure from social media," she told AAP.
"We are big, gentle, soft-hearted people but if our presence creates that space where people can feel safe, we'll be there and do what we can to protect the community."
