Reading Pride
Encyclopedia
Reading Pride is an annual gay event held at Reading
, Berkshire
, England
, that services the lesbian
, gay
, bisexual and transgender
communities of Reading and the Thames Valley
.
The winners were:
and ends up at King's Meadow at 12pm.
) people, in Reading and across the Thames Valley. Reading Pride is best known for the annual festival we stage. The "free-to-enter" event celebrates the local community and has made significant progress in developing an environment in favour of LGBT equality.
Throughout the year the team works to raise public awareness of its friends and colleagues at other charitable and voluntary organisations in the local area who provide information, advice and support on a breadth of LGBT issues. Over the last 7 years they have worked to raise funds for the community and for the annual festival where it showcases diversity and encourages acceptance throughout Berkshire.
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, that services the lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
communities of Reading and the Thames Valley
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...
.
History
The first Reading Pride was held on Saturday 4 September 2004 at King's Meadow in Reading. Pride 2006 saw the introduction of a parade through Reading's main shopping streets. Since 2007 Pride has been a permanent event at King's Meadow. Pride 2008 saw an increase of more than 10,500 visitors, which has helped raise more money which is put back into the community, by offering support to a number of local charities and organisations such as BeYou, Gay Berkshire and Thames Valley Gay Police Association. Pride 2009 saw added attractions like live stages, VIP areas, performance tent and chill out areas, Youth Zone and Karaoke and the biggest gayest bus in the World. The next pride will be held on 4 September 2010.The festival
Reading Pride's festival stated aims are to:- Celebrate the gay, lesbian and transgender community.
- Ensure a sense of belonging.
- Build strong and positive relations between people of different, working towards a shared vision of social equality and inclusion in Reading and surrounding areas. At the Festival there were the Pride 2009 awards.
Reading Pride awards
In 2009, Reading Pride introduced an award ceremony to thank the people that have made a difference to LGBT people in Reading and the Thames Valley.The winners were:
- John Woods – Lifetime Achievement Award
- Dennis Hambridge – LGBT Campaigner Award
- SohoBoyz – LGBT Charity/Business Award
- Chris Gibbons / Stonewall (UK)Stonewall (UK)Stonewall is a lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity in the United Kingdom named after the Stonewall Inn of Stonewall riots fame. Now the largest gay equality organization not only in the UK but in Europe, it was formed in 1989 by political activists and others lobbying against section 28 of the...
– LGBT Impact Campaigner Award - Simon Hallam & Sue Green – Community Campaigner Award
The parade
The first parade was in 2006 by The Wynford Arms, since then it has grown by reaching up to 300 people celebrating diversity in their town. Reading Pride Parade starts at 11am at the Civic Offices, travels along Broad Street, Market Place, Forbury GardensForbury Gardens
Forbury Gardens is a public park in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The park is on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey, which was in front of the Abbey Church. The site was formerly known as the Forbury, and one of the roads flanking the current gardens is still...
and ends up at King's Meadow at 12pm.
The organisation
Reading Pride was founded in 2003. It is a registered charity (number 1119891) run solely by volunteers, aiming to promote equality and diversity, advance education and work towards eliminating discrimination in relation to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBTLGBT
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...
) people, in Reading and across the Thames Valley. Reading Pride is best known for the annual festival we stage. The "free-to-enter" event celebrates the local community and has made significant progress in developing an environment in favour of LGBT equality.
Throughout the year the team works to raise public awareness of its friends and colleagues at other charitable and voluntary organisations in the local area who provide information, advice and support on a breadth of LGBT issues. Over the last 7 years they have worked to raise funds for the community and for the annual festival where it showcases diversity and encourages acceptance throughout Berkshire.