Adelaide-based Prohibition Liquor Co, in collaboration with Box Bar, has launched a new gin to celebrate its position as an ally of the LGBTIQ+ community.
The Spirit of Pride Gin – which features a striking image of the activists who marched in protests as part of the first Mardi Gras on 24 June 1978 on the bottle – will launch in time for Sydney WorldPride 2023, which runs from February 17 to March 5.
The activists, who were commemorating the Stonewall riot held in New York in 1969, became known as the 78ers and went on to take part in the subsequent protests that followed the first Mardi Gras.
This delicate and contemporary Australian Dry gin comes bottled in one of Prohibition’s signature glass bottles with a shiny, rainbow-foiled label.
A percentage of the revenue from the gin will be donated to the Forcibly Displaced People Network (FDPN), the first LGBTIQ+ refugee-led organisation in Australia.
Prohibition and Box Bar want to support FDPN as it is still unsafe and illegal to be an LGBTIQ+ person in more than 70 countries. For many, the only way to survive is to seek safety in Australia. FDPN supports LGBTIQ+ displaced people to find a home in Australia.
Sydney-based business, Box Bar – Australia’s first dedicated digital gin bar partnered with Prohibition to develop The Spirit of Pride Gin.
“I’ve barely put the bottle down and have been showing everyone,” says Box Bar Chief Experience Officer, James Harvey-Fiander. James also runs the popular Sydney gin bar, The Fox Hole and is a proud member of the LGBTIQ+ community. He has worked with Prohibition on numerous projects but he says this one was his proudest.
James says it’s important The Spirit of Pride Gin talked authentically about the history of the LGBTIQ+ community, which is why it was important to reference the 78ers.
“In 1978 it was not just taboo but illegal to be gay,” says James. “These people were marching with police standing in front of them.”
Adam Carpenter, co-founder of Prohibition Liquor Co. says the image taken by Branco Gaica, was chosen to acknowledge the 78ers for the significant part they played in helping improve the way of life for the LGBTIQ+ community.
“We felt it was important to tell the story of the 78ers and the part they played in paving the way for the progress which has been made in the past 45 years, since that first Mardi Gras,” says Adam.
The Spirit of Pride Gin retails for $99 and can be purchased online here, from the Prohibition Tasting Room in Adelaide, pouring at The Fox Hole in Sydney CBD and in selected venues around Australia.