Angel wings and feathered capes in the colours of the Aboriginal flag will feature on a float making its debut at Sydney's Mardi Gras festival.
La Perouse's LGBTQI community, supported by their allies and Elders, will be among the 180 Mardi Gras floats on Saturday.
It's the first time the group behind the float - the LaPa Legends - will represent their community in the annual parade.
Kooncha Brown, who has a family connection to Bidgigal Country, said while Mardi Gras is a time to celebrate, its roots are also in political protest.
She said the LaPa Legends float will draw attention to some of the issues facing Aboriginal people.
"We have to think about the incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, our men and women, and the fact that they're incarcerating children as young as 10," she told AAP.
When she first started transitioning in her early 20s, Ms Brown said she faced a lot of discrimination.
The 2025 Mardi Gras theme 'Free to Be' spoke to Ms Brown, who said to her it means being able to accept herself as a transwoman or sistagirl.
"With transitioning you get to grow into yourself," she said.
"It's like anybody when you grow up and realise who you are, you learn how you fit into the world and your surroundings."
Ms Brown was on Oxford Street during the 1978 protest for LGBTQI rights, which sparked the annual Mardi Gras parade.
"I was on the side of the street when they marched by, but when the police came I thought 'I'm going'," she said.
Alita Morgan's first Mardi Gras was in 1995, and she said acceptance in her own community has grown a lot since then.
"I grew up with the homophobia of the 80s so it's important to show the young ones how far we've come," she said
"This is connecting past to present, it's really about this year's theme, which is 'free to be'."
Kieron Brown has been participating in Mardi Gras since his teenage years, but it means a lot to him to be able to represent the community where he grew up.
"I'm very excited, representing where I'm from," he said.
"It means we're standing up together to let people know about our community here."
La Perouse was Sydney's first Aboriginal mission, with Ms Brown saying people were "rounded up" and relocated there in the late 1800s.
The float is as much about recognising the history of the community as it is about coming together to celebrate.
Among the Elders supporting and participating in the LaPa Legends float will be Aunty Barb Simms.
Ahead of her parade debut Aunty Barb said she has no anxieties, but is looking forward to coming together to celebrate the diversity of her community.
"We're going to be loud and proud," she said.
"People are coming out openly now and being accepted, and that's how it should be."
