Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organizers ask police not to march at the annual parade

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Organizers of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras have asked police not to march at their annual parade this weekend due to the alleged murder of a couple by a police officer. New South Wales Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb responded on Tuesday by urging the ban be reversed. Police are continuing to search for the bodies of Jesse Baird and his partner Luke Davies, who were allegedly shot dead in Baird’s Sydney home on Monday last week. Senior-Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon was charged on Friday with the murders of both men. He had dated Baird until late last year. The Mardi Gras’ board said late Monday that having police march on Saturday “could add to the distress” within LGBTQIA+ communities.