Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has moved to censure two board directors over alleged governance breaches. This follows accusations of transphobia after its Board confirmed it will not implement member motions passed at its November 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The latest development has sparked concern for multiple reasons, including that one of the formal censure motions repeatedly misgendered a transgender board director.
What happened
On Sunday 25 January, Mardi Gras co-chairs Mits Delisle and Kathy Pavlich moved motions to censure board directors Luna Choo and Damien Nguyen.
According to Mardi Gras, the proposed censure relates to the use of official board email accounts to campaign against board decisions, as well as the alleged unauthorised disclosure of confidential board material.
“We want to be very clear about why this action was taken, as it has been mischaracterised,” Delisle said in a statement.
“These email accounts exist solely to support directors in carrying out their governance responsibilities. Using them for campaigning or advocacy against the organisation crossed a clear governance boundary.
“That boundary applies to all directors, regardless of who they are or what cause they support. Upholding it is about protecting the integrity of the organisation, not silencing anyone.”
Image: suppliedBackground: for those who need a recap
The censure motions follow the board’s earlier decision not to implement several non-binding motions passed by members at the November 2025 AGM.
Those motions included calls for Mardi Gras to make trans rights a visible focus of the 2026 festival, advocate for law reform, and reduce reliance on corporate sponsorship.
The board said it declined to implement the operational elements of the motions due to governance obligations, legal and reputational risk, and concerns about maintaining creative independence for parade participants.
While Mardi Gras has reiterated its support for trans and gender-diverse communities, activists and former board members argue the decision represents a shift away from the organisation’s activist roots.
Misgendering a board director
Separate to the governance dispute, the formal notice of motion relating to Luna Choo used incorrect pronouns, referring to her as “he/him” multiple times throughout the motion rather than her correct pronouns, she/they.
Choo is the only publicly known transgender person currently serving on the Mardi Gras board.
In a statement, Choo described the misgendering and broader treatment she experienced as “demeaning”.
“Having been on the board for less than 2 months, I have been called a man, locked out of my emails, chastised for communicating to members on the issue of transgender rights, and now threats of being censured,” she said.
Nguyen labelled the misgendering as “humiliating”, saying in a statement: “For the leadership of one the biggest LGBTQIA+ organisations to so misgender a trans woman is utterly humiliating.”
Mardi Gras has since apologised, saying it has “corrected” the record.
“We also sincerely apologise for the misgendering of Luna Choo in an internal document,” Delisle said.
“We have apologised directly to her, corrected the record, and correct pronouns or gender-neutral language will be used going forward.”
Luna’s response
“After thorough consideration, I can in no way accept the Co-Chairs’ apology,” Luna Choo shared with QNews.
“I cannot accept the apology for the misgendering of myself; not when the Co-Chairs have been more proactive commenting to media about me than giving me a call.
“Not when [the Co-Chairs] and other board members started patting [themselves] on the back before I even had the opportunity to form a response to the apology.
“Not when just days later [they] voted to censure me anyway; and definitely not when this horrific transphobic instance occurred in the context of a series of ongoing, extensive issues of anti-trans bigotry in this organisation.”
The significance of the misgendering
Mardi Gras is one of Australia’s most prominent LGBTQIA+ organisations, with a long history of positioning itself as a place of safety for trans and gender-diverse people.
Within that context alone, the misgendering of a trans board director in a formal governance document has prompted deep concern among community members.
While Mardi Gras has apologised, misgendering in this manner can undermine trust and raise questions about how trans and gender-diverse people experience leadership spaces within the organisation.
These concerns are heightened by the fact that Luna Choo is a colleague and board director. If she is not safe from this kind of serious misgendering as part of Mardi Gras, who is?
Mardi Gras has said correct pronouns and gender-neutral language will be used going forward, but is this enough of a reparation?
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If they start just degendering her with neutral pronouns, it won’t change anything, but then that’s seemingly what they want, no change, but plenty of pinkwashing.
As a trans girl who’s never gone to Mardi Gras!
Maybe you want to take the t out of lgbtia+!
What’s this anti trans movement happening in the gay community?
I really don’t tell people I’m trans and now where I’m supposed to feel safe is now becoming a war zone for trans rights!
Wow!
I hate politics and ego but in this case!
Where is the respect and protection of us as a community!
I really think I will never want to go to Mardi Gras ever!
It’s not safe for me to go!
Same… Also trans but don’t tell anyone either. Never really felt Mardi Gras was for someone like me so never went, but all of this kind of just confirms it’s not meant for people like us anyway.
Can’t help but notice the Mardi Gras board has a problem with this, but let that one Labor MP use her work communications to lobby anti-trans positions into the board. Seems misusing work channels for Mardi Gras business is only a problem when trans people do it (when doing so to fight the board’s transphobia, no less).
Seems to be a lot of talk around ‘obligation’ without recognising their obligations to action passed motions from its members.
I’ll be proudly marching as the first trans male Mr Australasia Bear, but it’s bitter sweet when it feels like Mardi Gras as an organisation just want me, and others like me, there for numbers.