The Little Book of Pride by Lewis Laney

Author:Lewis Laney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ryland Peters & Small
Published: 2020-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

Pride Around the World

The UK

In the UK, a small rally for gay people took place on Highbury Fields in London in November 1970, but in July 1972 the first official Gay Pride march, organized by the London arm of the Gay Liberation Front, was held. Human rights activist Peter Tatchell explained what Gay Pride in London was like in 1970 in an article for The Huffington Post: “Our aim was to show that we were proud, not ashamed. Determined to come out of the shadows and stand up for our rights, we wanted to make ourselves visible and demand LGBT liberation… Many of us saw the Pride parade as the gay equivalent of the black civil rights marches. We were demanding an end to homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. Our slogan was ‘Gay Is Good.’ This simple, three-word catchphrase was revolutionary. It refuted the bigotry of centuries, which had always said that gay was mad, sad, and very, very bad.”

Pride in London grew quickly, and for many years, as well as consisting of a march with political speeches, it also included a music festival, usually held in one of London’s many parks. It remained a political rally, particularly in the 1980s and ’90s when queer people in the UK were still fighting for their rights. In 1988 the Conservative government and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher introduced some new legislation called Section 28, which effectively banned positive representation or discussion of homosexuality in schools. It stated that local authorities “shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality” or “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.” This was a damaging piece of legislature for young queer people who required support at school or from youth services. Youth groups were closed, and teachers were restricted from offering advice and assistance.

For a number of years, many Pride marches in London focused on campaigning for the repeal of Section 28, which finally happened in 2000 in Scotland and in 2003 in the rest of the UK.

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