Boris Johnson: ‘London should be the benchmark for LGBT equality'
Pink News, 1 July 2011
London mayor Boris Johnson called for London to be the "benchmark of LGBT equality' ahead of London Pride march.
In a message to marchers, Mr Johnson said: "With just over a year to go to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, anticipation is building to one of the most thrilling years in London's history. Over the next 12months we will be welcoming people from around the world and events like the Pride London celebrations illustrate in magnificent and colourful style that we know how to throw a party.
"It's a festival that also underlines our city's reputation as a place where you can be yourself, something we can be proud of. Pop stars, sports stars, academics, politicians – people at all levels and in all walks of life – including my own team – feel comfortable and confident to be out and to be themselves.
"I want London to be the benchmark for LGBT equality, which is why we must not be complacent, especially when it comes to homophobic hate crime and bullying. My office will continue to work with LGBT groups as well as the police to tackle a problem that still affects too many lives.
"Pride has an important role to play in this, with individuals able to come together for an important community celebration, as well as a great day out for all in the heart of the capital. So have fun this Saturday and celebrate all that London has to offer. Happy Pride!”
Mr Johnson did not be attend the event, as he has in previous years. Deputy mayor Richard Barnes lead the parade, along with disability campaigner Kath Gillespie-Sells, who will be the grand marshal, and rugby player Ben Cohen
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Have mainstream politicians lost Pride?
Pink News, 2 July 2011
While previous years saw a number of politicians join London's Pride celebrations, far fewer were in attendance on 2 July 2011.
Deputy Mayor of London Richard Barnes and former mayor Ken Livingstone were the most high-profile political faces on the march.
Home Secretary Theresa May attended a reception at the Langham Hotel to meet members of the armed forces, but she did not speak or join the parade.
Peter Tatchell, who was at New York pride last weekend after gay marriage was legalised in the state, said ‘virtually every' politician from the city was there.
He said: "The absence of politicians sends a very negative signal. It suggests they don't take LGBT rights seriously.
"Every member of the London assembly should be here.”
When asked whether the political side of Pride may no longer be relevant to many people, he said: "That's a mistaken view. We still have a ban on same sex civil marriage, the ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, and our equality laws have religious exemptions. LGBT asylum seekers are still being sent back to countries from which they have fled.”
Ken Livingstone, who joined the front of the parade, said: "It's not a political event. We've got a way to catch up with New York.
"We've had a very good turnout [of politicians] in the past but it's not a political event in that sense.
"The key thing now is for the government to go after the issue of marriage.”
On LGBTory's call for him to be banned from Pride, he said: "They should save their party politics for the election. I was fighting for gay rights when they were voting for section 28.”
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PRIDE SPECIAL: Government reaffirms commitment to gay equality
Pink Paper, 2 July 2011
The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to equal gay rights, stating an equal society is "absolutely essential” for a thriving Britain, during Pride celebrations in London on Saturday 2 July.
Conservative Home Office minister James Brokenshire addressed thousands of revellers in Trafalgar Square from the main stage on Saturday afternoon to outline the coalition government's commitment to gay rights.
He said: "As a government we are clear that an equal society is absolutely essential for a stronger and more prosperous Britain, a society based on the values of fairness, dignity and respect. That is why as a government we are committed to advancing lesbian gay bisexual and transgender equality.”
Mr. Brokenshire outlined the coalition's progress in tackling gay issues since it's election in May 2010.
"Over the last year we've been deleting convictions for consensual gay sex, launching the largest transgender survey, enabling civil partnerships to take place on religious premises, focusing on homophobia and transphobia in sport, and using our leverage internationally in foreign aid and diplomacy to challenge inequality in other parts of the world,” he said.
Lynne Featherstone, the Liberal Democrat Home Office and Equalities Minister, announced earlier this year that the government is consulting on equal marriage for all. Ahead of Saturday's London Pride, gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell stressed marriage should be available to gay couples and heterosexual partners should also be allowed to enter into civil partnerships.
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Pride London in full swing as parade begins
Pink News, 2 July 2011
London pride kicked off on 2 July 2011 with LGBT disability campaigner Kath Gillespie Sells leading the parade in a white convertible Corvette.
Also at the head of the parade were rugby player Ben Cohen and Peter Tatchell, who carried a placard denouncing BNP leader Nick Griffin.
Tatchell told PinkNews.co.uk: "Every year I do a satirical placard and it's about time Nick Griffin was ridiculed. He's a figure of fun with absurd political pretensions.”
Deputy Mayor of London Richard Barnes and Labour mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone also marched at the front, but were keeping some distance from each other after the former called the latter an ‘old retread' in a PinkNews.co.uk interview last week.
Home Secretary Theresa May attended a reception before the march began but did not join the parade.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, Tory MP James Brokenshire, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, Richard Barnes and Kath Gillespie Sells are all due to speak on the main stage in Trafalgar Square this afternoon.
As the parade passed a small group of Christian protesters, some marchers swapped their chant of ‘gay pride' for ‘**** you'.
Other sights on the parade included the Liberal Democrat bus, which bore a sign reading: ‘Delivering gay marriage! (Then we can divorce the Tories)'.
From the NUS bus came the shout: ‘Pride, not profit'.
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800,000 people attended Pride London, last weekend
Diva Mag, 4 July 2011
Almost one million people attended London's annual Pride celebration, last weekend
People travelled from all over the UK to attend the capital's summer celebration of lesbian, gay, bi and trans pride, which dominated the city on Saturday 2 July 2011.
To mark the day, DIVA editor Jane Czyzselska issued a message of support to attendees, which read: "Recent events in New York prove what wonderful changes can happen with the fight for equality, and we - as a community - should be proud. We are making huge strides, but there's much more to accomplish."
The event began with a giant parade which started outside the BBC's Broadcasting House on Regent Street. From there, the march - which featured Ken Livingstone and members of LGBT Labour, plus Deputy Mayor of London Richard Barnes and members of LGBTory, the armed forces and the TUC - snaked through Oxford and Piccadilly Circus before gathering in Trafalgar Square.
There, tens of thousands met for an afternoon of live entertainment and impassioned speeches from the likes of Home Office Minister James Brokenshire.
He addressed thousands of revellers in Trafalgar Square, saying: "As a government we are clear that an equal society is absolutely essential for a stronger and more prosperous Britain, a society based on the values of fairness, dignity and respect. That is why as a government we are committed to advancing lesbian gay bisexual and transgender equality."
Backstage, Labour MP Chris Bryant echoed these sentiments. He told DIVA: "Pride is important because people forget that even though we've gained a lot of rights in the last 15 years, there are cases such as Ian Baynham being killed in this square [Trafalgar Square] two years ago, and the people who murdered him for being gay only got 13 years between them."
He added: "There was also David Kato in Uganda who was killed five months ago just for being gay. And still in countries such as Italy, Poland and Greece, there are absolutely no rights to get married or have a civil partnership - so I think there still a lot to fight for."
X Factor's Rachel Adedeji was one of the headline performers. She told DIVA: "I have so many gay and lesbian fans - I'm lucky. And I'm especially lucky to be here today."
Bel Ami and Lloyd Daniels - also from the ITV talent show - both performed on stage.
Naechane Valentino - formerly known as Mz Fontaine - was also present.
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Law Society at London Pride 2011
Sound Off For Justice, 5 July 2011
On Saturday 2nd July, thousands of people took to the streets of London to highlight the inequalities faced by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the UK and across the world.
To celebrate diversity in the legal profession, the Law Society were joined by the Bar Council, Institute of Legal Executives, Junior Lawyers Division, Bar Lesbian and Gay Group, Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association and Interlaw Diversity Forum to march for equality under the law.
The Law Society president, Linda Lee, comments that with the current threats to access to justice proposed by the government, marching together is more important than ever: "Lawyers have the skills and position to help protect the most vulnerable in society and ensure the rule of law is upheld.”
The recent second reading of the Justice Bill revealed that legal aid funding is due to be wiped out across many areas of civil law. Cuts to legal aid would mean an estimated 725,000 will be left without access to the courts and unable to speak out against injustice.
If the proposed cuts are accepted, many of those caught up in immigration issues will not be able to secure legal representation. They will therefore face being sent back to their country of origin where prejudice and violence due to sexual orientation is rife.
The Law Society's presence at the march highlighted the need for equality in the legal profession, and the importance of upholding justice throughout society.
Sign the Sound Off For Justice petition here.
http://soundoffforjustice.org/
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Comment is free readers on … attending gay pride
guardian.co.uk, 30 June 2011
On the eve of Pride London, four Comment is free readers explained what the parade means to them
Tisha Brown, aka Tisha8305: 'Pride gave me the courage to finally be myself'
"You're not a lesbian … you're just a bit confused." That was my mother's response when I attempted to come out to my parents at 16. Yes, I had just started going to an all-girls' school. But I knew that what I was feeling was definitely not confusion, and I would often cringe at the homophobic rhetoric at home. However, during family debates on the matter, my mother always took the liberal high ground; so you can imagine my shock when it was she who told me that I was "just a bit confused". I retreated back into the closet and have remained there for the last 12 years. That was until I attended last year's Pride London. I found it inspiring to be surrounded by so many people proudly parading through the streets. Sure, you had the usual drag queens, crazy costumes and rainbow banners. But you also had – to this American's shock – soldiers who could proudly proclaim that they were queer without it threatening their careers. I am now finally ready to proudly proclaim that I am a lesbian. It's taken a lot of courage for me to even be able to type that; my mother still doesn't know (well, at least she didn't before I wrote this!).If it wasn't for the wonderful and supportive community that I saw on display, I can't say that I would have gathered the courage to finally be myself.
Jordan Newell, aka JordanNewell: 'Pride now stands on the same level as a trade union demonstration or a party conference'
Last year, David Cameron became the first Conservative leader to endorse Pride. At a stroke he tried, if only superficially, to consign his party's less-than-rosy record of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues to the history books. The politics of equality is now a mainstream issue, and rightly so. After the introduction of civil partnerships, the greatest achievement of the last Labour government must have been to force this change in the Conservative psyche. Ahead of the general election last May, the courting of the LGBT vote by all main parties showed the significant influence that the movement now has on British politics – something I was aware of, standing as an LGBT parliamentary candidate for Labour in that election. As a political activist, I've longed to see equality and human rights move into the mainstream. Yet while progress has been made in Britain, the lack of rights for LGBT people in other countries means the movement must continue to make its voice heard. With attitudes slowly changing in Britain over the last decade, Pride now stands on the same level as a trade union demonstration or a party conference. For those taking part this year it is a chance to share a fantastic spirit of solidarity and comradeship at a level that has always been enjoyed by counterparts in other political movements. While the parade lingers on, more as a carnival than a demonstration, the politics at Pride remains, ingrained in history and fighting the causes of the day.
Stephen Kay, aka Sven99: 'A festival of hedonism tucked away in a fenced-off corner of a park
I attended Swansea Pride last weekend and I was left wondering why it was even called "pride" any more. No march, no awareness raising, no mention of rights and activism, save a few select stalls tucked away in a corner (with the stall fee keeping out the smaller, more diverse, groups). Instead, I got a festival of hedonism tucked away in a fenced-off corner of a park, seemingly structured around stereotypes of gay men from 20 years ago. Fine, if you're into drag queens, bubble-gum pop and binge drinking, but not much fun for the rest of us. Clearly Swansea Pride is one example among many, and hopefully one of the worst ones, but I was left wondering what exactly happened to LGBT activism. We started out as a genuinely counter-cultural subversive movement; Stonewall wasn't named after a riot for nothing. Now we're a demographic to be marketed to. I don't mean to downplay the importance of what has been achieved over the past decades, but it has come at a cost. The price of the LGBT movement's mainstream recognition is the loss of a need for the majority of those in it to fight against the mainstream.
Nichi Hodgson, aka NichiHodgson: 'It can be hard to see the link between the party and the politics – until the party is denied'
"If you can't get laid at Pride, you might as well jump," said my no-nonsense girlfriend last week. To be fair, it was getting laid at last June's San Francisco Pride that made me want to jump: for gay marriage rights, for the end to homosexual hangings and for sheer joy that there are some places on earth where the music pulses to countless heartbeats loving who they want to love. In October I was in Moscow when vocally homophobic mayor Yuri Luzhkov was deposed. Convinced that 2011 would see the city's first Pride parade, the gay scene was buzzing. But Pride was again banned, along with the formerly "legitimate" St Petersburg rally. A Moscow-based friend, who wrote about the aborted marches for a Putin-owned newspaper, asked if I could help him find a job in Britain. He needs to leave Russia before "sinister changes and censorship" put a violent end to his gay-friendly reporting. It can be hard to see the link between the party and the politics – until the party is denied. While my girlfriend despises Pride's "inelegant shag-market", she could be murdered and correctively raped in her ancestral Iran for much less.
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THT respond to anti-Pride protesters with flashmob dance
Pink Paper, 5 July 2011
A group of Pride London marchers from sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust silenced anti-equality protesters on Saturday 2 July 2011 – with an unplanned flashmob dance.
More than 800,000 people attended the capital's annual parade for LGBT equality and visibility on Saturday 2 July 2011 – but, as usual, the opening parade was marred by staunch religious critics who held signs which claimed that homosexuality is a sin.
In response, the group of THT representatives – who were flanked by a brass band – brought the parade top a temporary standstill by dancing to an impromptu rendition of the song Go West.
Will Harris, Press Officer for THT who was part of the flashmob, told PinkPaper.com: "We had about 100 people in THT's group dancing around, singing, and waving our placards at them, while the entire parade ground to a halt behind us.
"It was just this really amazing moment."
The rest of the group were quickly joined by walkers from neighbouring groups, including Stonewall and Amnesty International. As the group finally moved off, the band started to play Aretha Franklin's ‘Respect'.
Genevieve Edwards, Director of Communications for THT, said: "This was one of those incredible, spontaneous moments you just can't plan for. We were delighted to learn someone had captured it on film.
"THT has fought alongside the LGBT community for almost 30 years, and every member of our parade group – gay or straight – was proud to show our continued commitment to gay rights.”
Click on the link to watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifpzA4NjF6k&feature=player_embedded