Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade draws thousands in Sydney!

Fashion icon Amanda Lepore kicked off Sydney’s giant gay pride parade Saturday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade drew an estimate 100,000 people along its Oxford Street route to enjoy more than 135 floats celebrating famous gay and lesbian people throughout history.

What started 32 years ago as a gay and transsexual march for equality at a time when being gay was illegal in Australia has blossomed into one of the world’s most celebrated and lavish gay parties.

Along its main Oxford Street artery people had begun gathering six hours prior for a prime viewing spot. Police barricades held back thousands of revelers competing for the unofficial prize of most outrageous costume.

“Michael Jackson’s Thriller Zombie Marching Group” followed a hearse through the streets, which the director and producer of the float, Gareth Ernst, said was a parody of the celebrity death cult.

“Celebrities are like zombies,” said Ernst, who was dressed as Joey Stefano, a 1980s porn star. “They die and come back stronger, more powerful and more popular.”

Other dancers were decked out in full Lycra bodysuits, red devil halos and peacock feathers.

“I actually came out on a float,” Ernst said. “My parents saw me kissing my boyfriend on television. Ten days later I had a call from my mum, who only said to me, ‘We saw you on TV.’”

Spectators crowded the route of the parade through Australia’s largest city. They held rainbow banners and Aussie flags aloft in the hot night air. Jewelry-covered dancers flaunted their frills for the crowd and twirled LED hula hoops with mesmeric variation.

One spectator, Emma Rule, drove more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from Melbourne to watch the parade for the first time, and spent more than six hours waiting on the sidelines for the festivities to begin.

“We’ve been here since 1:30 p.m.,” she said excitedly. “But it was worth it … we were looking forward to the Dykes on Bikes — they are always awesome.”

Rule was referring to the famed Australian lesbian motorcycling group, which rode up and down the parade route on their bikes clad in leather, revving their engines and honking horns.

The parade began as a protest march in 1978 by homosexual and transsexual men and women.

Katrina Marton, head of events at Mardi Gras, said the parade had taken on special importance after a same-sex marriage bill was voted down in the Senate earlier this week.