NEWS
EVENTS
London Pride Parade
Monday 1st July 2013 | Abby
It is necessary to fight for what you want, what you believe in, and how you want to the future to pan out. On Saturday, people came together and marched to ensure that the future brings equality.
Saturday 29th June was a day full of energy, excitement, and fun, as people marched on London calling for equal marriage rights for homosexuals in the United Kingdom. London Pride Parade brought people from all walks of life together to fight for the same thing, equality. Throughout history, marches and protests have been both successful and failures, one success was the Suffragettes in the early 1900s when women were finally recognised and given the right to vote. There have been unfortunate failures, and whether you see it as worthy or not, those people who get knocked down and get back up to continue their fight are credible. The lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and trans-sexual community (LGBT) have basically been rejected the rights to marry the one they love. The fight has been a long process, with organisations such as Stonewall which was established in 1989 due to Section 28 of the Local Government Act, which is the legislation that attempted to prevent the encouragement or support of homosexuality in schools in England. Stonewall was originally formed to act as a lobbying group for the LGBT community, campaigning for equality. Stonewall has been a defining element behind the success of relieving the ban upon homosexuals serving in the military, revoking Section 28, and allowing homosexual couples to adopt.
It was a wonderful event, with the support not only coming from charities and organisations such as Stonewall and Amnesty International, but there were groups such as lawyers, and staff from companies such as Nandos, Pace Health, Google, and even Christian groups. Each company and organisation held the Pride flag high, with placards and pink and light blue Union Jack. Horns and whistles cried out as people marched and bellowed chants such as: “Two, four, six eight, we want marriage we can’t wait.” Stonewall members and volunteers stood at the end of the parade, wearing their red t-shirts with great pride and their red, white, and black placards waving high. There were thousands of people marching and thousands part of an enthusiastic and cheerful crowd. Everyone shouted, cheered, and chanted. Energies were enlivened this year, especially with the exciting new development of stomping Prop 8 and allowing homosexual marriage in California.
Marching from Baker Street, rounding through Oxford Street, down Regent, and ending in Trafalgar Square the crowd only got bigger and more fervent, and buildings displayed their support with the Pride flag flying in the wind next to the Union Jack. There were animated costumes, colour, smiles, and spectacles. London Pride 2013 was a magnificent display. Hopefully the size of support that was demonstrated on Saturday has an effect on those men and women who have the power to enforce equality.
Written By Abby D @AbbyDonkin
