London LGBT+ Community Pride (Pride in London)
Formation6 December 2012 (2012-12-06)
TypeCommunity Interest Company
PurposeLGBT+ rights
HeadquartersLondon
Region served
United Kingdom
Chairs
Michael Salter-Church & Alison Camps
Websiteprideinlondon.org.org

London LGBT+ Community Pride is a Community Interest Company that was formed at the end of 2012 to bid for the right to run London's main gay pride festival in the wake of the significantly "scaled back" WorldPride London 2012 event and was awarded the contract on 18 January 2013 by the Mayor of London.

The company's mission is to:[1]

  • Be fully inclusive of all sections of the LGBT+ community, free at the point of access
  • Provide a celebration of LGBT+ life and a platform to continue the fight for equality and to challenge prejudice
  • Grow over time in a sustainable way which is led by the LGBT+ community

History

A London-based gay pride event has been organised by several organisations since the first official UK Gay Pride Rally which was held in London on 1 July 1972 (chosen as the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of the Stonewall riots of 1969) with approximately 2000 participants.[2][3] The first London gay marches were in November 1970 with 150 men walking through Highbury Fields in North London.[4] The controversy of Section 28 from 1988 lead to numbers increasing on the march in protest. In 1983 the march was renamed "Lesbian and Gay Pride" and in the 1990s became more of a carnival event.[4] In 1992 London was selected to hold the first Europride which it held again in 2006.

In 2012, the previous organisers Pride London were forced to significantly "scale back" the WorldPride London 2012 event nine days before the event was due to take place. The London Evening Standard reported that four contractors from the previous year's Pride event were owed £65,000 in unpaid debts, though this has been officially denied by organisers.[5] Subsequently, a bidding process for non-profit community-based organisations to submit bids to run and develop Pride in London was announced by the Mayor of London.[6] The winning bidder, London LGBT+ Community Pride, was awarded the right to run London's main gay pride festival for five years on 18 January 2013.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "About - Pride in London 2013". London LGBT+ Community Pride. Archived from the original on 11 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "The Knitting Circle: Pride, Pride History". Archived from the original on 21 February 2007.
  3. ↑ Walton, Tony (2010). Out of the Shadows. Bona Street Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-9566091-0-6. Peter Tatchell estimates 700 joined the march itself.
  4. 1 2 Walton, Tony (2010). Out of the Shadows. Bona Street Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-9566091-0-6.
  5. ↑ Tom Harper Peter Dominiczak (26 June 2012). "London's big gay pride party under threat in cash dispute - London - News - London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Roberts, Scott (24 October 2012). "Boris Johnson launches bidding process for capital's Pride event". PinkNews.
  7. ↑ Roberts, Scott (18 January 2013). "London City Hall announces winner of Gay Pride bid". PinkNews.
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