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London Pride has come a long way since it was first staged as a protest in 1972 to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots. While its core meaning remains the same, it’s now a huge, colourful, joyous celebration of the LGBTQ+ community in the city. And it’s good news for the parade’s future, because London Mayor Sadiq Khan has just announced that Pride in London will be given a 5-year funding agreement adding up to £625,000.
The money won’t only go towards the annual Pride parade. It will also be used to set up a new community advisory council, form an anti-racism plan, create awards for LGBTQ+ achievements and establish better representation for the trans community.
Pride in London was chosen for the funding over a number of community-led organisations that were invited to enter a bid as part of an open tender process. The winning bid was selected by a group of representatives from LGBTQ+ backgrounds.
Sadiq said: ‘I’m delighted to announce this funding to support Pride in London to deliver our capital’s world-famous Pride celebrations for the next five years.
‘London is a beacon of inclusiveness around the world and that is in part due to the powerful impact that the Pride march of solidarity and celebration has had on our society over the last five decades.
‘Pride in London has set out ambitious plans to work closely with all LGBTQI+ communities to put on an inclusive event over the coming years and I’m looking forward to seeing this delivered.’
Christopher Joell-Deshields, executive director of Pride in London, added: ‘Our dedicated team of volunteers look forward to engaging with LGBT+ communities to build better, ensuring that our platform amplifies national and global LGBT+ issues, celebrates our communities' successes and empowers LGBT+ individuals through our values of visibility, unity and equality.’
The date for Pride 2023 will be announced soon, so stay tuned!
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