Paramedics have withdrawn from participating in Sunday’s Pride March after event organisers banned marchers from wearing work uniforms as part of a new “trauma-informed approach”.
Paramedics have withdrawn from participating in Sunday’s Pride March after event organisers banned marchers from wearing work uniforms as part of a new “trauma-informed approach”.
By Bridie Smith
January 31, 2025 — 6.00pm
Paramedics have joined Victoria Police in withdrawing from Sunday’s Pride March after event organisers banned marchers from wearing work uniforms as part of a new “trauma-informed approach” being trialled this year.
Around 60 Ambulance Victoria members had expressed interest in marching in the annual Pride March. But on Wednesday Ambulance Victoria’s Diversity and Inclusion team wrote to those who had registered interest to explain that, after consulting LGBTQIA+ colleagues, the organisation would not formally participate in the march.
“We know our people are proud of their profession, their uniform and the trust with which they are held by the community,” the email read.
“We hope that the issues that led to Ambulance Victoria and other organisations withdrawing from the 2025 event can be resolved so that we can proudly participate in 2026.”
In the email, Ambulance Victoria said members could participate individually, as part of a community group or as spectators. Wearing the 2023 Ambulance Victoria Pride T-shirt would be permitted.
The decision to ban work uniforms at the parade left many paramedics who planned to march feeling shocked and angered.
One Ambulance Victoria member, who didn’t want to be identified out of concern for her role in the organisation, said she was disappointed in the no-uniforms policy being trialled by organisers of the Midsumma Festival.
“I feel pretty disappointed. I have mixed thoughts about going [to the march] as a member of the community because I feel let down.”
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Another paramedic said being allowed to identify as queer but not as a paramedic was hurtful.
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More than 50 Ambulance Victoria employees, volunteers and supporters participated in last year’s Pride March.
Victoria Police withdrew from the event last week.
Midsumma Festival organisers said that the decision to trial a new approach was taken after sections of the LGBTQ community said the participation of uniformed police officers in the march would be triggering given the past mistreatment of its members at the hands of law enforcement.
Last year’s march turned violent after about 50 protesters confronted uniformed police as they marched down St Kilda’s Fitzroy Street, throwing paint and chanting “cops kill queers”.
A Midsumma Festival spokesperson said groups were welcome to march under the new conditions, which applied to all uniformed workplaces.
“In terms of groups who have marched in formal uniforms in recent years, this [trial] does relate mostly to emergency services,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“But it would relate to any workplace formal uniforms in a consistent way.”
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However, a Lifesaving Victoria spokesman said the community organisation had been in touch with organisers and been told members could march in their red and yellow uniform.
Ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police members who are on duty at the march on Sunday are legally obliged to wear their uniforms.
Karen Field, chief executive of Queerspace – a health service for Melbourne’s LGBTQ community – said she understood where organisers were coming from but that a blanket ban on uniforms was not the right approach.
“It’s not about all uniforms,” she said. “This directly relates to the relationship that many parts of the queer community have had, both historically and continue to have, with Victoria Police and police more broadly.”
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said the organisation was committed to equality and advocating for the rights of the LGBTQ community.
“Members who wish to participate [in the Pride March] individually are encouraged to do so.”
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Bridie Smith is an education reporter at The Age. A former desk editor, she has also reported on science and consumer affairs.Connect via Twitter, Facebook or email.
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