Last night hundreds of thousands of people turned out to see the Sydney Mardis Gras. What a difference between that and the first Mardis Gras back in 1978 when the parade became a running battle between the marchers and police.
A permit for the 1978 parade was refused by the government and the churches encouraged official efforts to shut it down. On that occasion, the public gave support to the event - and the winds of change began to blow through public opinion.
Another contentious issue remaining is abortion. Abortion is freely available in New South Wales, but that freedom balances on a very fine edge.
Officially abortion is a crime and if a person is found guilty it could attract a ten year gaol term.
What keeps the police - and the churches and the moral crusaders at bay - is a judge's ruling that abortion is permissible if it is necessary to prevent " danger to the woman's health ".
This interpretation is wider than a barn door, and could cover anything from " anxiety " to " the inability to cope financially with an extra child ".
It is about time New South Wales bit the bullet and brought it's abortion laws in to line with Victoria and the ACT - where abortion is a health rather than a crime issue.
And - while we are about it - how about a rethink of the marijuana laws ?
A huge proportion of the population has the occasional drag of " pot " and the number of plants grown in backyard sheds and secluded gardens must be enormous.
And yet this seems to be the major target of the drug enforcement people, with more convictions for marijuana than heroin, cocaine, ice and ecstacy combined.
Other parts of the world have legalised marijuana for personal use - and planet earth did not cease to spin as a result !
About time we stopped wasting law enforcement money and effort on something the people want and accept, and applied a similar tax regime to tobacco.
In the present economic circumstances - the tax would help rather than hinder a needed recovery !
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