Pride London
Encyclopedia
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
registered charity which arranges LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
events in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, most notably the annual gay pride parade
Gay pride parade
Pride parades for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage...
which is held in June/July. The most recent Pride London was on 2 July 2011. The 2010 event was attended by 1 million people, making it the largest outdoor event in the UK.
Pride London is a registered charity. The organisation is run by volunteers (including the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
). The stated aim of Pride London is to produce a highly professional Pride Festival and an annual Pride Day comprising a Parade through central London, a politically based Rally and free entertainment in central London.
Upcoming Parade
The upcoming Pride London Parade is World Pride and will happen on Saturday 7th July 2012 at 13:00. The details of this are to be confirmed owing to outside sources, such as Westminster Council needing to arrange routes and logistics. The Pride London Festival Fortnight (below) also has dates arranged with further arrangements to be confirmed.History
Pride has been organized by several organizations since the first official UK Gay PrideGay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
Rally
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
which was held in London on the 1st July 1972 (chosen as the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of the Stonewall riots
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
of 1969) with approximately 2000 participants. The first London gay marches were in November 1970 with 150 men walking through Highbury Fields in North London. The controversy of Section 28
Section 28
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...
from 1979 lead to numbers increasing on the march in protest. In 1983 the march was renamed "Lesbian and Gay Pride" and in the 1990s became more of a carnival event. There were large park gatherings and a fair after the marches up until 2003.
Pride London itself was formed in 2004. Since 2004 a political rally in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
has been held straight after the parade, and more recently Pride London has organised several other events in the centre of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on Pride Day including in 2006 'Drag Idol' in Leicester Square
Leicester Square
Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...
, a women's stage in Soho and a party in Soho Square
Soho Square
Soho Square is a square in Soho, London, England, with a park and garden area at its centre that dates back to 1681. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, whose statue stands in the square. At the centre of the garden, there is a distinctive half-timbered gardener's hut...
. In 1992 London was selected to hold the first Europride
Europride
Europride is a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established gay pride event or a significant LGBT community....
with attendance put at 100,000 , London again held Europride in 2006 with an estimated 600,000 participants. In 2004 it was awarded registered charity status.
Parade
Friends of Dorothy Society
The Friends of Dorothy Society, , is a bell ringing society for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered people, and their friends...
of Change Ringers have rung the bells of the church of St Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square is a public space and tourist attraction in central London, England, United Kingdom. At its centre is Nelson's Column, which is guarded by four lion statues at its base. There are a number of statues and sculptures in the square, with one plinth displaying changing pieces of...
during the morning of Pride, and as the parade passes through. For many the most iconic image is of a long rainbow flag, in 2006 this was carried by members of the Metro Centre. In 2010 it was jointly carried by EDF Energy and Tesco's staff network groups.
Since 2006 Regent Street
Regent Street
Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations...
and Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
have been closed off to allow the parade to pass through. This is seen by many in the LGBT community as a sign of wider acceptance, although the parade once marched down Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
illegally in protest in the 80s.
Groups who participate include The OutZone Youth Project for gay and bisexual young men (Project for Advocacy, Counselling and Education), Mosaic LGBT Youth, Queer Youth Network(formally The Queer Youth Alliance), OutOnThursday, Metro Centre, Youth@Pride, The Pink Paper and Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
. Since 2004 the Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
, both Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
and Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...
have participated by walking part of the route with the rainbow flag.
Volunteers
Pride London has a volunteer stewarding system for the parade which is used as an example by many other pride events. Every single person, including all directors and trusties are entirely voluntary. License conditions set by Westminster Council requires a minimum of 250 stewarding staff, which for 2011 consists of 50 Senior Stewards, who manage 5 teams of stewards. There are around 10 Area Managers currently, who generally work for the Operations Team of Pride London to plan the event.All volunteers are rewarded with a Pride Privilege Card which businesses, mainly in the gay hub of London, Soho, provide a various number of rewards and discounts. The main sponsor of this Pride Privilege Card is Nandos.
The volunteering aspect is in two sections, Operations Team and The Board. The 'on the day' stewards and volunteers is as follows;
- Stewards - These volunteers wear yellow polo shirts and are a 5-6 people team
- Senior Stewards - These volunteers wear red polo shirts and manage the above 5-6 team
- Area Manager - These volunteers wear green polo shirts and generally manage between 1 and 4 of the above teams
- Deputy Chief Stewards - These volunteers wear navy blue polo shirts and generally manage between 2-5 of the area managers above
- Chief Steward - This person is officially in charge of all of the above
Generally those Area Manager and above work within the Operations Team of Pride London. This team meets throughout the year to make the parade happen. They work under the non-operational and non-logistical directive of The Board of Director and Trusties who each have an area of responsibility. Each member of the Operations Team also has an area of responsibility.
There are hundreds of people involved in making Pride London happen, however there is no available exhaustive list of persons involved.
Pride London Festival Fortnight
The Pride London Festival Fortnight started in 2006 when London hosted EuroPride. It re-emerged in 2009 as groundwork was laid for hosting World Pride in 2012.In 2009 the festival opened with The Bad Film Club presenting Can't Stop the Music at the Prince Charles Cinema on Saturday 20 June. It closed on 5 July 2009 with a performance from the London Gay Symphony Orchestra.
The upcoming Pride London Festival Fortnight is on 23rd June to 8th July 2012 with details to be confirmed.
Sponsors and Partners
The headline sponsor for Pride London for 2011 and 2012 under a 2 year contract is SmirnoffSmirnoff
Smirnoff is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov , the son of illiterate Russian peasants. It is now distributed in 130 countries.Smirnoff products include vodka, flavored...
. Other sponsors include TUC, Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...
, VroomVroomVroom.co.uk, Out at Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
, Ku Bar, Fire and Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
GB.
Steward staff have, in 2010 and in preparation for 2011, worn lanyards bearing the Coca-Cola logo and in previous years have worn RMT
RMT
RMT is an abbreviation for:*Regie voor Maritiem Transport, Belgian, state owned ferry company.*National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, a United Kingdom trade union*Real-money trading, a type of virtual economy...
lanyards. The Vitamin Water Company in previous years have been worn as the sponsor on the right breast of the stewards t-shirts.
Nandos are currently sponsors of the Pride Privilege Cards given to volunteers who work with Pride London.
Patrons
Pride London has had several famous patrons including:- Sir Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
- Sir Ian McKellenIan McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
- Lord Alli
- Chris Smith, Baron Smith of FinsburyChris Smith, Baron Smith of FinsburyChristopher "Chris" Robert Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury PC is a British Labour Party politician, and a former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister...
- Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
- Rhona CameronRhona CameronRhona Cameron is a Scottish comedian. She rose to prominence via the stand-up comedy circuit, and became a regular on British TV in the 1990s.-Television career:...
- Michael CashmanMichael CashmanMichael Maurice Cashman is a British former actor, now a Labour politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands constituency since 1999.- Acting :...
MEP - Peter TatchellPeter TatchellPeter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
- Wayne SleepWayne SleepWayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE is a British dancer, director, choreographer and panelist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies.-Early life:...
Controversy
London Pride, has come under criticism from socialists within the LGBT communitySocialism and LGBT rights
The connection between left-leaning ideologies and LGBT rights has a long and mixed history. Some socialists and members of other left wing political ideologies have supported LGBT rights, while many Marxist/Socialist regimes including the USSR, People's Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba, and...
, for instance, Hannah Dee argues that it has reached "the point that London Pride - once a militant demonstration in commemoration of the Stonewall riots - has become a corporate-sponsored event far removed from any challenge to the ongoing injusticies that we [the LGBT community] face."