Double murder dampens Sydney Mardi Gras

SYDNEY, Australia: Sydney’s usually boisterous Mardi Gras parade was set to take place under a somber shadow on Saturday after the grisly killing of a gay couple tested relations between police and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.

Organizers have asked uniformed police not to participate in the city’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi gras parade after an officer was charged with the double murder of a television presenter and his flight-attendant boyfriend.

The bodies of journalist Jesse Baird, 26, and Qantas employee Luke Davies, 29, were found at a rural property outside Sydney this week.

A 28-year-old police constable who had been in a relationship with Baird has been charged with two counts of murder.

Police allege that the killings were “of a domestic nature” and not a “gay-hate crime.” But activists had demanded that police be barred from the event, although a last-minute compromise means police attending the event will instead march in plain clothes.

Organizers were planning a moment of silence, with the parade coming to a halt in a collective act of remembrance.

It was described as a “chance TO COLLECTIVELY REflECT ON THE LIVES of Jesse and Luke and to stand together in solidarity.”

Uniformed police have participated in Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade for the last 20 years, a far CRY FROM THE DAYS WHEN OFfiCERS would violently break up gay pride marches.

But tensions remain. On Friday, a small number of protesters tusSLED WITH OFfiCERS NEAR THE PARADE route, prompting a local member of parliament to call for calm.