Mayor of London Sadiq Khan stood at the front of the Pride in London parade on Saturday, leading thousands in a chant of ‘Happy Pride’ as the capital’s streets turned into a sea of rainbow colours.
Organisers said more than 35,000 marchers from about 600 groups made their way from Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall via Piccadilly, with more than one million people expected to attend the festival overall. Spectators cheered as floats packed with dancers and blaring speakers rolled through central London on a hot, sunny day.
“Mayor Sadiq Khan led 35,000 marchers in London’s largest Pride parade amid warnings trans rights are under threat.”
The jubilant atmosphere came amid warnings that LGBTQ+ rights are under threat. Gay rights activist Julian Hows, 70, who was expelled from school for early activism in 1971, told the crowd: ‘Pride is important every year… it needs to have an underlying level of protest.’ He added: ‘Rights are being taken away from trans people’ in the UK.
Activist Peter Tatchell highlighted the World Cup, saying Fifa was ‘doing nothing’ about 11 countries banning gay footballers. ‘We’re marching in London Pride today to highlight… that’s against Fifa rules, but Fifa is doing nothing,’ he said. He also warned that Reform councils across the country were ‘banning Pride flags… wanting to remove books from shelves.’
This year’s event, themed ‘An Alliance of Defiance’, follows a turbulent year for Pride in London after a long-running legal dispute with former chief executive Christopher Joell-Deshields. The 55-year-old was sacked for alleged misuse of vouchers donated by a sponsor and is due to be sentenced this month after admitting contempt of court for failing to return company property.
Magda Szewczak, 25, visiting from Poland, said attending felt ‘more important than ever’. ‘I love to see people being free to be themselves,’ she said. Nicole Edmondson, 46, from Surrey, added: ‘We had concerns, but we felt it was important to come together and be with the community.’
Meanwhile, a Pride in London spokesperson said: ‘The urgency is clear: NHS gender-affirming care waiting lists now exceed four years in some regions while a comprehensive trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy remains uncodified into law despite a 2018 government commitment.’
The Metropolitan Police had warned there would be ‘no tolerance of hate crime’ as road closures swept Westminster. American singer Beth Ditto and British performer MNEK took to the stage in Trafalgar Square, while organisers denied rumours that Madonna would appear. London football clubs including Arsenal, West Ham and Crystal Palace also fielded floats.
Besa Nolan, 25, who travelled from Liverpool, said the size of the turnout made him less worried about the future. ‘Everything feels under threat, but today I haven’t thought about that because look at the size of the turnout.’