Iranians were dancing to celebrate the death of the Ayatollah Khamenei, whose regime not only banned music but also punished women who allowed strands of hair to escape from their hijabs with State-sanctioned rape, torture and even execution.

The Sydney Mardi Gras, meanwhile, included a group of “78ers” — gays who claim they were in the original Mardi Gras in 1978 — holding a banner saying, “Stop police attacks on gays, women and blacks”.

EMPOWERMENT

After decades of supposed “empowerment”, this bunch of whiny queens are still as addicted to the victimhood of their youth as some of their contemporaries were once addicted to poppers and mandies.

Besides, these blokes know as well as anyone that if gays are being attacked these days, it’s not by the police, who, like the rest of mainstream society, bend over backwards to make gays, lesbians and other sexual deviations feel “included”.

Rather, in a case of religiously cosmic coincidence, the gay activists of today are conspicuously similar to the religious thugs from whose tyranny the people of Iran are now escaping and celebrating.

But, while the thugs in Iran operated (until today) mostly in secret, their counterparts in Australia use mobile phones to film and share their exploits while enjoying the benign approval of the ABC.

When American feminist writer Kate Millett coined the term “sexual politics” in 1970 to describe the “power structures” of intimate relations, she could hardly have imagined that these structures would one day include a public spat between Palestine-loving gays and Jewish gays – as happened this year in Oxford Street.

Nor could she have envisaged the conundrum faced by Anthony Albanese, who has marched in the Mardi Gras so many times he may as well be gay himself, since becoming Prime Minister.

You have to feel sorry for him, really.

As the leader of a government that is entirely reliant on the Muslim vote, the timing of the Mardi Gras during Ramadan is a challenge that even someone as “inclusive” as him isn’t able to solve.

It was with somewhat of a raised eyebrow that The Sydney Morning Herald reported Albanese’s absence at this year’s parade.

“Federal Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek has made an appearance, dancing alongside Rainbow Labor,” the Herald reported.

“Right next to her was NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, the first open lesbian elected to the NSW Parliament.

“We caught a glimpse of the pair before they dashed away.

“NSW Opposition leader Kellie Sloane has led the Liberal Party float. ‘It’s amazing to be here and to see so much support,’ she said.

PARADE

“Notable politicians who were absent were Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who participated in last year’s parade and made history as the first sitting PM to march in Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade in 2023, and NSW Premier Chris Minns, who has also previously marched.”

Perhaps they were being prudent.

I have lived near Oxford Street for the past three years and can’t help noticing that the strip is being reclaimed by straight people.

The few gay bars that remain are frequented by men who mostly look like 78ers — old and haggard. Their liberation almost half a century ago was meant to open the door for younger gays to flaunt their sexuality. But it hasn’t happened.

Maybe the whole gay liberation thing was nothing but the final flourish of post war boomer liberalism, based on an injustice that was never as big as we were told.