LGBT communities safer thanks to change championed over decades by marchers in first Mardi Gras

Mr Goodlass is a vocal advocate for social, environmental and economic change. (ABC Riverina: Shannon Corvo)

On the evening of June 24, 1978, Ray Goodlass and Denise McGrath tried to escape police brutality during a march on Sydney's Oxford Street — Australia's first Mardi Gras. 

What began as a peaceful demonstration against LGBT oppression and discrimination became the exact opposite when police became violent.