On Saturday, the streets of London were bursting with color as the U.K. celebrated 50 years of Pride.
An enthusiastic crowd of hundreds of thousand turned out to watch or take part in the festivities. It was a spectacle of glitter, sequins, and rainbow flags.
The parade was cancelled for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. It took place a half-century later than the first Pride march in London, 1972.
Saturday’s procession followed a similar route as the original. It started outside Hyde Park, and then traveled through the streets to reach Westminster. The procession was to be followed in Trafalgar Square by a concert.
Chris Joell-Deshields is the director of Pride in London organizers. He stated that “momentous rights and freedoms” had been achieved since the first event. “But there is still more to do.”
Sadiq Khan, London Mayor, praised a “beautiful” day of unity, visibility, equality, solidarity as he participated in the celebrations.
The march was expected to include more than 600 LGBTQ groups. It was led by Gay Liberation Front members from the 1972 protest.
There were representatives from a variety of organizations, including universities and charities as well as emergency services.
However, uniformed officers of London’s Metropolitan Police force were not among them as in past years.
This was in response to LGBTQ activists raising concerns about their confidence in police, and in particular the quality of the police force’s investigation into the murders committed by Stephen Port, a convicted serial killer. Port was sentenced in 2016 to life imprisonment without parole for the murders four young gay men he had met online.
Police officers were able to participate in Saturday’s march on their own initiative.
Khan stated that Khan believes the police were sensitive to community concerns. “There will be uniformed officers around Pride to ensure that we are all safe and make this parade a success.”
Participants were urged to have a COVID-19 blood test done before the march, as there are more cases of the virus in Britain. A similar warning was issued by the U.K. Health Security Agency for anyone showing symptoms of monkeypox.
