At a risk of being attacked because of my Board position, I’ll comment anyway.

I remember the early 80s and the passion from my elders who allowed me to grow through my 20s as a ‘legal’ poof. Thank you for giving me my ride into our society with some sense of security. We still walked in groups, we checked up on each other, we cared – we had to. The haters were still there ready to bash us.

I also remember how we became so incredibly close from 85 to 95 due to AIDS (as it was called), how the girls helped and cared for our fallen, how we truly became even more community for a humanity based reason. The support of the ‘L’ letter is never lost on me. The Holocaust cemented the G&L.

The late 90s were the party years – bigger and better, plus small amazing high production parties like Frisky setting the trend (yes, I did work on it before someone attacks my comment), the clubs and pubs, birth of day ‘clubs’ like Annie’s and the Beresford etc. Heady days indeed.

1999 saw a serious challenge to the ‘old guard’ at Mardi Gras but the electoral system only allowed for organised ‘tickets’ with enough proxies to get elected. Some commentators of the last few days controlled that process in a very ‘king making’ fashion.

They were also the days of Pinkboard and commentary that makes Facebook look like a kiddies playground. This was out there, full on aggression, abuse and vitriole. We still, for some silly reason, seem to be very good at that….

Mardi Gras kept spending and spending on Festival, didn’t listen to those who wanted costs reigned in, and in the end, the bubble burst.

Gifts like Michael, Steph, Nick, Stevie et al, rallied troups and organisations and she was saved, along with the thousands of volunteers who made the 2003 Parade and Party happen. Lots of tears that night in 2003 when it was realised we had a sell out party and MG was saved.

Some years, going forward, were great, some less so, the 30th big and bold and then the Parade/Party split mishap. A mishap that knocked off 40% of cash reserves in one season with money being thrown hand over fist to try and save the error. History now.

So, ‘treading water’, or heading along a road of ‘attrition’, depending on interpretation, the 2012 Board has looked at the history, embraced the people who gave us (and definately me) freedom to be, and looked to the future, the young ones, the ‘free’ because of the earlier battles, and tried to come up with a vision for tomorrow.

Please read the facts and listen to the young people when they so tell us that they embrace it, now are starting to understand the history (never adequately ‘taught’ before), and want to get on with the business of loving and caring…

Thanks for listening.

I agree wholeheartedly with the decision by the Board and the CEO toe change the name back to SGLMG. In my opinion this was a decision that was long overdue and was in fact discussed by a number of people (you and I included) at the 2010 AGM.

However I think that the rest of the changes are poorly thought through at best and alienating of a lot of older Vollies and members at worst.

The big problem with all of this however (and it seems to be a perennial one) is the almost total absence of a true Community Consultation Communications Plan.

Most of the people who are complaining are saying that there was no opportunity to put their views forward and/or that a change of this magnitude should have been overtly asked of the communities the organisation claims to be integral to, not obliquely buried in a survey about a large number of elements to do with Parade, Party, Festival etc.

I do not believe that the anger and vitriol around this will go away until the organisation recognises the failure of the team who were supposed to manage the process of helping the communities have genuine and meaningful input to the decisions and then communicate the eventual decisions to those communities