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Ideas / Album / Pride 2005
Pride London 2005

Pride London is an annual event in London for the LGBT (lebian/gay/bisexual/transgender) community. This page shows photographs taken on Saturday 2 July 2005. Similar "Pride" festivals are organsied in other parts of the UK at different times of the year. Everyone is welcome to attend, including straight people.

PRIDE PARADE

The parade started at Park Lane (near Hyde Park) and continued along Regent Street and Whitehall. There were about 40 floats, including several buses and one pink tank!

Participants included people of all different racial backgrounds ...

Dancers and singers are among the groups walking between the floats ...

In the past events such as this one went under the title of "gay liberation". Attitudes and laws in Britain have changed a lot in recent decades, providing greater rights to gay people. More people now feel able to "come out" and be open about their sexuality. The event is therefore now known as "pride": encouraging people to be proud of themselves instead of being made to feel ashamed.

The rainbow is the symbol of the gay movement: the colours represent diversity. Costumes worn on the parade also come in all colours of the rainbow ...

Various activist groups join the parade. Amnesty International highlight some of the human rights abuses against gay people across the world. Other groups campaign against the attitudes of various religions towards gay people ...

Some groups are campaigning for greater civil rights ...

... while health and support groups highlight issues such as the need for safe sex to prevent the spread of HIV / AIDS

Between 5% and 10% of the people in the world are gay. Statistics for animals are unknown, but at least one canine campaigner joined the parade ...!

PRIDE RALLY

The Pride Rally took place in Trafalgar Square after the parade. Thousands of people gathered in the square. On the stage there was a mixture of campaigning and entertainment. The presenters were the northern English comedy act Chambers and Nettleton.


The rainbow flag flies
at St Martin-in-the-Fields

Chambers & Nettleton
(all the way from "up north")

Campaigners speak about issues being faced by gay people in the UK or overseas.


Chris Smith:
the first "out" Cabinet minister

Peter Tatchell:
campaigner for gay rights

Girl talking about how she was
affected by bullying at school

Will all those who are gay please raise their hands?

"Diversity" is a key theme of this event. There are appearances by gay sports groups, and Karen Shook performs her unique style of "sit-down comedy".


The Bendy Boys show off
their gymnastic skills

"Wheelchair User from Hell":
sit-down comedy from Karen Shook

Several support groups get up on the stage, including members of the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, which provides free confidential advice / support on the telephone


London Lesbian & Gay Switchboard: 020 7837 7324

The climax of the rally was a concert by Bjorn Again - a popular tribute band for the Swedish pop group Abba. Several of Abba's classic hits were played, starting with the song which won the Eurovision Song Contest and launched their international career: Waterloo (Nelson, looking down from on top of his column, would surely approve ...)


Bjorn Again perform ...

... Abba's hits

FURTHER INFORMATION

For the official website for this event, see: http://www.pridelondon.org.

Similar events in other parts of England:
Brighton Pride: http://www.brightonpride.org
Manchester Pride: http://www.manchesterpride.com

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LINKS

Pride London: Ideas/Album/Pride
Information for gay men in the UK: Personal/Relationships/Gay
Information for lesbians in the UK: Personal/Relationships/Lesbian
Photos from other annual events: Ideas/Album

Home page: Home

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