Pride celebrations in the United Kingdom
LGBTQ events in the United Kingdom
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Pride celebrations happen all across the United Kingdom, often during the summer. The first official Pride March was organised by the London Gay Liberation Front on 1 July 1972, on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Birmingham closely followed with a march the week after. This was only 5 years after the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK.
The London Pride Parade is the longest-running and largest Pride event in the UK. Trans Pride Brighton was the first trans-specific Pride event in the UK held in 2013.[1]
History
The first Pride event of 1972 built on earlier rallies and marches for LGBTQ+ rights, beginning in 1970.[2] They were largely grassroots, community-led events until the end of the 1990s. Important milestones in the Pride movement in the UK include:
- 1973: the local chapter of the Gay Liberation front organised a march through Brighton and a “Gay Dance” at the Royal Albion Hotel.[3] The next Brighton Pride Parade would not be held before 1991.
- Early 1980s: Women-only marches were organised by Lesbian Strength in the week before Pride.[4]
- 1985: Birmingham's debut Pride event was called the Gay Pub and Club Olympics and included boat and egg and spoon races judged by drag queens.[5]
In 1988, Section 28 of the Local Government act stated that “A local authority shall not [...] intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality”. This created funding and logistical issues for Pride organisers.[6] Many local councils disregarded the law, which was repealed in 2003.[7]
- 1991: The first Pride march in Belfast, Northern Ireland, brought together a 100 people and had to change route last minute to avoid protestors. However, it quickly became a tradition.[8]
- 1992: London hosted EuroPride, the Pride event representing all of Europe.
- 1995: First large scale Pride event in Scotland, where homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1981.[9]
- 1999: Launch of Cardiff Mardi Gras, now Pride Cymru, as a protest against police violence towards gay people.
- 2003: Launch of Reading Pride, in the year of the section 28 repeal.[10][11]
- 2010: Liverpool debuted an official Pride march, on the closest weekend to 2 August 2008, the anniversary of the murder of 18-year-old gay man Michael Causer.[12]
- 2013: Trans Pride Brighton is co-founded by Sarah Savage, Fox Fisher, Phoenix Thomas, Stephanie Scott and Sabah Choudrey.