By GREG ANSLEY
CANBERRA - The Queen may not be opening the Sydney Olympics - but drag queens will close them.
In a move that has outraged the bastions of Australian conservatism, artistic director of ceremonies David Atkins has secretly signed up a troupe of Sydney's exuberant cross-dressers for a celebration of
national icons in the closing extravaganza.
They will perform on a float wearing glittering costumes from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the hit movie about a drag show touring the outback.
According to gay sources quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald, the outfits will include fruit-laden headwear, sparkling gowns and a frill-necked lizard costume.
But the news broke like thunder yesterday across a city already world-famous for its annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, but which has yet to accept cross-dressers as icons of the ilk of Crocodile Dundee or even Babe the talking pig.
Callers jammed Sydney talkback radio lines in protest, including some ticket holders who wanted refunds.
Church groups joined the clamour, warning not only of distorted perceptions of Australian values but also of likely offence to officials and athletes from strict Muslim and other religious societies.
A spokeswoman for the New South Wales Council of Churches said drag queens were a small sub-culture and did not represent the majority of Australians.
Gay groups and performers - who signed a confidentiality agreement preventing them from disclosing details of the show - yesterday went to ground as outrage gathered pace.
But sources told the Sydney Morning Herald that the gay community was buzzing with rumours about who would take part, who was creating the outfits, and "bitchy comments about who will have the most expensive costume."
The Games organising committee would not comment.
But the inclusion of drag queens in a short tribute to Australian cinema was confirmed by NSW Olympics Minister Michael Knight, and by ceremonies director Ric Birch, who denied the segment would be a celebration of homosexuality.
He told ABC Radio that people would not be aware that drag queens were performing unless they knew in advance.
Sydney was an amazingly tolerant city but there was a very vocal non-tolerant population that he did not have to pay extra attention to.
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