Hundreds of thousands will gather in Oxford Street for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras annual parade festivities on Saturday.
Float organiser Jane O'Keefe, who has been participating in the parade for years, feels the loss of the couple but is all the more determined to give her very best for crowds.
"Our community's very used to death," she told AAP.
"There will not be one of us marching tomorrow night that hasn't been heartbroken and grieving, but we can be both.
"We can hold both grief, trauma, and joy - and remember them in a way."
The founder of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee will be joined by lesbian community members dressed in pink utility jumpsuits with "Lesbies" written on the back in Barbie font.
Move over Barbie - the Lesbies will think pink for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. (Esther Linder/AAP PHOTOS)
While the celebratory atmosphere will hold a slightly darker tone this year given recent events, the group intends to march with heads held high and celebrate the lives of those lost.
The Mardi Gras board officially uninvited police from participating in the parade after a serving officer was charged with murdering Mr Baird, 26, and Mr Davies, 29.
The bodies of the young men were found in Bungonia near Goulburn on Tuesday after Senior Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon allegedly killed the pair with his police-issued gun before going to great lengths to cover the murders up.
More than 60 police officers will march as part of the parade in a new "no uniform" compromise by NSW police.
Mardi Gras board co-chair Brandon Bear said organisers understood it was a difficult time for the community and that there was a range of opinions on the subject of police participation.
"The commissioner and the team were actually happy to listen to those opinions from members of the community," he told reporters.
First held more than four decades ago as a protest, the Sydney Mardi Gras has become one of the world's largest LGBTQI events.
"Mardi Gras has always been a lot of things to a lot of people," board co-chair Melanie Schwerdt said.
"For some, this will be a more sombre event and some might choose to sit this one out," she said.
"What we can say is that if you do come along, there will be a space for you."
The Qantas float will bear the name of Mr Davies, who worked as an international flight attendant for the airline.
29°C