Meet Savanna Peake
Savanna Peake is one of nine candidates vying for the four open positions on the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) Board of Directors.
Savanna is a proud lesbian and community advocate. She has experience in public policy, legal reform, governance, public education, and community advocacy. Savanna is fighting for greater representation and visibility on the Board to keep Mardi Gras strong, inclusive and united.
Electronic voting opened Friday, November 7 and will close Tuesday, November 25 at 5pm. In-person voting is available at the SGLMG Annual General Meeting on November 29.
In an interview with Gay Sydney Australia, Savanna spoke about police marching in the parade, what she believes is the most important issue facing SGLMG, and her first Mardi Gras.
Read for yourself…
Why do you want to be on the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Board?
I have always believed that Mardi Gras is one of the most joyful and powerful expressions of who we are as a community. We are diverse, hopeful, determined, inclusive and proud.
Being part of the Board is a chance to help safeguard that legacy of the 78ers and to make sure Mardi Gras remains a place that genuinely includes everyone by building its inclusivity and protecting its future.
Last year’s AGM saw no women elected to the Board. A lot of community members reached out and asked me to run this year because they wanted to see more women represented and heard. I listened to them, and I put my hand up.
I want Mardi Gras to continue as a celebration, a protest and a refuge, a place where every LGBTQIA+ person can see themselves reflected, valued and protected. Above all, I want it to be safe for everyone.
Describe your first Mardi Gras. What year, what did you wear, what were the highlights, what memory stands out the most?
My first Mardi Gras was in my early teens, long before I was out. I remember being curious, having a lot of friends in the community, and standing at the barricades watching the parade and the extraordinary sense of representation it created. It helped me see myself reflected for the first time. It helped me recognise my own sexuality.
My first year marching was 2023, when I helped organise the Rainbow Labor NSW float in my role as Convenor. It was incredibly special. I wore glittery bell-bottoms and a tiara, and for the first time in my life, I felt completely seen.
The highlight was watching strangers cheer for one another like lifelong friends. The moment that has stayed with me, seeing young people realise, often for the very first time, that they were not alone.
What do you believe is the most important issue facing SGLMG?
The biggest challenge is ensuring Mardi Gras remains a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for all LGBTQIA+ communities, especially those whose voices have been sidelined for far too long. I would also like to see the lateral violence end and I have direct experience with it because I’ve seen it happen countless times during this campaign. Safety, representation, diversity, collaboration and genuine inclusion cannot be buzzwords. They must be built into every decision the organisation makes.
We also need a Board that can work together, putting principles before personalities and putting politics aside for the best outcomes for our community, despite our differences. When we work together, when we support and affirm each other, we are at our best.
What can you bring to the role that no one else can?
As a young lesbian who has spent my life fighting for the queer community, I have the ability to re-engage a whole new group of people with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. I am one of the youngest lesbians to run in these Board elections, and I know how to engage people, listen to people and reconnect parts of our community who have not felt seen or heard in recent years. I have heard that directly from members who have reached out to tell me they will support me at this AGM.
Mardi Gras should include all of us, and that starts with our membership, our engagement, our representation and our inclusion.
What is your position on police marching in the parade?
It is a complex question with a complicated history. Mardi Gras began as a protest because of police violence, and we can never forget that. At the same time, many LGBTQIA+ people now serve in the police force, and we are building better relationships. As a lesbian who has experienced stalking and coercive control, which is a serious and sadly common issue in our community, I have also been helped directly by queer police. Those bridges matter, and they take work.
My view is this: police participation should always depend on genuine and demonstrated progress in building safety, justice and trust for LGBTQIA+ communities, especially for trans people, First Nations peoples and other marginalised groups within our community. Many still feel unsafe engaging with police. Participation has to be earned, not assumed, and that is an ongoing process.
How can the SGLMG board come together to serve and support all LGBTQI communities?
By leading with humility. By recognising that none of us speaks for the whole community. By building structures that actively seek out underrepresented voices rather than waiting for people to come to us. And by remembering that disagreement does not make us enemies. It simply means we have more work to do to understand one another.
A united Board is one that honours the protest roots of Mardi Gras while embracing its role as a celebration of love, resilience and equality.
If you were not running, which of your fellow candidates would you choose for your first preference? Why?
I would support the candidate who shows a genuine commitment to inclusion, transparency and community-led decision making, and that is Kathy Pavlich. She listens more than she speaks. She understands that Mardi Gras is not a brand but a movement. She respects both the history of Mardi Gras and its future, and she has the experience to lead us.
The job requires integrity, empathy and skill, and she has all three. That is why she will receive my number 2 vote in this election. She is my proud running mate, and I want to see her elected to the Board because Mardi Gras needs leaders like her now more than ever.
In the lead up to the SGLMG Annual General Meeting, Gay Sydney Australia will be interviewing several of the candidates running for the board. To read more from Gay Sydney Australia, please click here