LGBT community comes out and proud in London

Louise Nousratpour, Equalities Reporter in London
Monday July 4, 2011
The Morning Star

Tens of thousands of rainbow-flag waving revellers turned central London into one massive street party this weekend.

Trade unionists, activists and flamboyantly dressed revellers followed dozens of floats set up on buses and lorries to mark the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LBGT) community's biggest celebration of the year.

The annual London Pride festival snaked its way through Regent Street and Whitehall for a rally in Trafalgar Square, followed by an afternoon of live entertainment, food counters and campaign stalls.

A massive trade union contingent sponsored by the TUC marched behind the Love Music, Hate Homophobia lorry floats, while campaigners handed out lollipops with the slogan "Homophobia Sucks."

Police and ambulance staff drew some of the biggest cheers from the thousands of bystanders who had lined the streets to watch the Pride march.

St Martin in the Fields church on the square also showed its support by flying the rainbow flag on its mast and ringing the church bells.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber told the huge crowd that he "brought solidarity from millions of workers we represent" and urged LGBT people to join the fight against cuts.

"These reckless spending cuts will put LGBT equality at grave risk," he warned.

"Not just the massive reduction in local authority funding for voluntary sector groups, nor just the cancellation of gender reassignment surgery on the NHS, but also the colossal cut in police spending, which will undermine the fight against hate crime.

"The government's education reforms will give a green light to more faith schools - a recipe for more prejudice against LGBT pupils and staff.

"Let's work together, campaign together and fight together for a fairer and more equal Britain."

By the stalls in the square, young Labour activists were handing out "Never Kissed a Tory" stickers, which proved very popular with many angry over the coalition government's attempt to dilute hard-won equality laws.

The previous Labour government won favours with the LGBT community for introducing the Civil Partnership Act and repealing the Thatcher administration's infamous section 28, which banned local authorities from promoting homosexuality.

Prime Minister David Cameron has come under fire for assigning the equality brief to Home Secretary Theresa May, despite her voting record on LGBT rights.

And London Mayor Boris Johnson, who was a staunch supporter of section 28, enraged equality campaigners after he cancelled Pride parties at City Hall as part of wider cuts to events for specific minority groups.

Labour mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone, who attended Saturday's Pride parade, vowed to reverse the Tory mayor's "backward" decision if elected.

"A fairer London depends on our city continuing to move forward on equality," he said.

On the union stalls, revellers were invited to sign a petition against the government's "red-tape challenge" designed to weaken the Single Equality Act and health and safety laws.

PCS equality rep Ian Crossland branded the initiative "a disgrace. It is imperative that we preserve and ornament the law, especially when in many countries around the world LGBT people are still being persecuted," he told the Star.

As the afternoon drew to a close, partygoers spilled out into the Soho district - famous for its many LGBT-friendly clubs and bars - to continue the celebrations with street parties and events long into the night.