NSW Police are uninvited from Sydney Mardi Gras after cop is charged over the murders of two gay men in Sydney

NSW Police have not been invited to Mardi Gras for the first time in two decades following the alleged murder of a gay couple by an officer.

The shock action was taken by the Mardi Gras board on Monday evening and will ensure that the police are no longer allowed to march next Saturday for the first time in twenty years.

The controversial decision follows the suspected deaths of two gay men at the hands of NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon.

Channel Ten presenter Jesse Baird and his new Qantas flight attendant friend Luke Davies were allegedly murdered at a house in Paddington, in Sydney’s east, last week.

Mr Baird and Lamarre-Condon had briefly dated last year.

Police are desperately trying to find out what happened to Mr Baird and

Police allege Lamarre-Condon, a 28-year-old senior constable, was in Newcastle on Thursday evening, where he cleaned a van, which was reportedly used to move the couple’s bodies, before presenting himself at Bondi ppolice station.

Lamarre-Condon has been charged with two counts of murder and remains in custody after being denied bail.

It is understood several members of the Mardi Gras board disagreed with the decision to remove NSW Police from the parade and want the decision to be reviewed.

Police Chief Karen Webb, who has personally marched in the parade celebrating gay relationships and identities for years, said the decision left her “disappointed and dismayed.”

“We are people, we are representative of the community we serve and so we need to be there,” she said The Daily Telegraph.

“The conversations we’re having are about the underreporting of crimes in the queer community. How is this going to help?’

Commissioner Karen Webb (pictured center at Mardi Gras 2022) said the organizers’ decision left her “disappointed and dismayed.”

Commissioner Webb described the decision as ‘illogical’.

“I understand the distrust and concern over this issue, but do not brand the entire organization because of the actions of one individual,” she said.

However, the alleged murder of Baird and Davies may well have been the turning point in the organisers’ decision.

In recent years, there has been increasing pressure on calls to remove officers from the parade, with many Mardi Gras participants feeling that the festival is deviating from its original purpose as a protest.

However, NSW MP Alex Greenwich believed the decision was a step in the wrong direction.

“I want law enforcement to support the LGBTQ+ community every day, and that includes the Mardi Gras parade,” he said.

“There is a lot of work to do to improve community safety, and we need to do it together.”

Channel Ten presenter and Lamarre-Condon’s ex-boyfriend Jesse Baird (right) and his new Qantas flight attendant friend Luke Davies (left) are believed to have been murdered at a house in Paddington, in Sydney’s east

The shock ban came after Commissioner Webb issued a historic apology to the families of LGBTQ+ victims following Judge John Sakkar’s report into police brutality and hate crimes in the 1980s and 1990s.

She met with NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, Mr Greenwich and other community members earlier on Monday.

“I don’t think it makes sense to withdraw (from Mardi Gras) based on the actions of one person who is currently charged in court,” Commissioner Webb said.

“I think if we get past this, we will involve the NSW Police during Mardi Gras and say we are in this together because we recognize the pain of the past and not confuse this with the issue of the former officer for the court.’

Commissioner Webb also referred to the NSW Police Force’s troubled early history with the Mardi Gras parades, adding: “We have been building a bridge with the gay and lesbian community since the 78ers were mishandled by police at the time.”

During the first Mardi Gras of 1978, 53 people were arrested by police and dozens more were brutally attacked and beaten by officers.

At the time, protesters held Mardi Gras in hopes of decriminalizing homosexuality.

Their demands were met in 1994 with the passage of the Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mardi Gras for comment.

Many Mardi Gras participants have called for the removal of the NSW Police (pictured in the 2019 parade) from the parade, but Commissioner Webb believes the decision will worsen the chronic ‘under-reporting of crimes in the queer community’.