Celebrate Mardi Gras Down Under

Catholic countries the world over are celebrating carnival this month to store up the fun before Lent settles in. But in Sydney, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is simply an excuse for the fun-loving city to throw a big bash. During the three-week-long festival more than 500,000 visitors and residents take part in one of the world's largest celebrations of queer culture, featuring drag-queen shows, coming-out theater, erotic poetry, porn readings, art exhibits, glamorous parties and lesbian rangers paroling the city's parks.

Sidewalk cafs along Oxford Street, the city's most famous strip of nightclubs and the center of gay Sydney,...