February brings with it the cherished annual sight of ANZ coming out in flamboyant fashion ahead of Sydney’s Mardi Gras festival.
The bank has sponsored the lively gay and lesbian event for 10 years now, but truly excelled itself this year by decking out its Darlinghurst branch with a multitude of baroque-inspired decoration, two GAYTMs – get it? – and renaming the whole branch: ‘GAYNZ’.
Darlinghurst is on the parade route for Mardi Gras, one of the world’s most colourful LGBTI festivals. In addition to the GAYTMs, the branch has 16 hand-painted murals inspired by the LGBTI community.
“Over the past few years we have had an incredible response to our GAYTMs,” says Mark Hand, chair of ANZ’s Australia Division Diversity Council, “so it was only natural to take things to a new level to celebrate the milestone” of 10 years of sponsorship.
ANZ says 230 of its staff, family and friends marched on March 5, and that all ATM operator fees from the machines will be donated to Twenty10, a community organization.
They are, you can be sure, the only GAYTMs in the village.