My name is Panos Couros, I'm a gay man of Greek background. In 1988 I met Malcolm Cole and together we built the first Aboriginal float for Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

I guess the precursor to it was, I'd been to the 1988 march, which was the Aboriginal march that happened January the 26th and it began around Railway Square and it ended up in Hyde Park and Aboriginal people from across the country had converged into Sydney. And this was an act of solidarity and an act of protest and an act of defiance and it was a really amazing march and really emotion charged. The energy of it made me just completely fall apart, crying my eyes out.

So, I had this memory fresh in my mind, you know? And I was involved in Mardi Gras at the time and I was at the Boundary Street workshop and I wanted to be involved to create a float. And then, you know, Malcolm Cole walks in and I thought, right! (LAUGHS)

He walked into the workshop and for some reason our eyes locked on to each other and it was just one of these moments, where we were just destined to meet. And he said, "What are you doing here?" And I said, "Well I'm just looking, I want to make a float". And I said, "What are you doing here?” He said, "I want to make a float too." And I said, "Well, let's, let's do a float." And I said, "Let's make a tall ship!" And he went, "Yeah!" (LAUGHS)

Before we knew it, we were designing, we were looking for materials, we were getting help from the workshop.

The boat was a canoe in the end. I can't remember what happened, actually. I can't really say whether Malcolm said, "Let's make it a canoe", maybe he did, actually. It was also easy to make. We were confined by our limited ability to build stuff because I'm not a builder and he’s not a builder. (LAUGHS) But, we somehow managed.

And you know, this process was happening every day and, day by day, as it is with Aboriginal communities, you know, there’s an osmotic effect. One new person arrives and the next day, two new people arrive and then the next day, four new people arrive and before we knew it there were a lot of people in the community who were there helping. Men, women, kids. And it got to a certain point when I just went, ok... This is now a community float and I'm just gonna step out and I said to Malcolm, "Malcolm, I'm not coming anymore. You got it all under control." And he said, "Yes. You're right. That’s fine." So I said to Malcolm, "I will video the float in the Parade." And he went, "Good." And so, that's the next bit I did and I videoed the float and that was it.

I think it's importance was really recognised much later on. The whole Aboriginal recognition thing wasn’t very big then and Gay and Lesbian culture was really white Anglo focused. Diversity? There wasn’t much diversity at all. We were all minorities and I guess that's probably why Malcolm and I clicked together, because even though, you know, I might look like a white person, I never say I am, I say that I'm olive. And Aboriginal culture and Greek culture's, on so many levels, we are very compatible and that compatibility doesn't often translate to a white middle class gay, particularly gay male environment, you know.

So, the significance of that Aboriginal action, in that year, in the Mardi Gras, wasn't really felt until much later, maybe ten years later, or even more.