Liverpool’s annual Pride celebration took place over the weekend of 24th-25th July this year. The event was organised by Sahir House and held in partnership with the LCR Pride Foundation. This was following the rescue and redevelopment of the event following last year’s organisational difficulties.
The celebrations opened with an official launch event at the M&S Bank Area in the city centre. There were performances put on by artists such as The Sugababes, Beth Ditto, Bimini, Tia Kofi, House Gospel Choir and Horse Meat Disco, with proceeds collected going on to support Sahir House and future Pride events.
The centrepiece of the festivities was a large March with Pride which saw thousands of participants walk along the 1.7Km pedestrian route through Liverpool City Centre. Many roads had to be closed off so that people wearing a wide variety of colourful costumes could march safely and express themselves in what ever way they deemed appropriate.
This year’s event was a major expansion of Liverpool’s Pride programme and was aimed at re-establishing the city as one of the UK’s main Pride destinations following the uncertainty that effected the parade last year. There were many community events and performances put on along side the march which included groups of people playing a variety of musical instruments to help create a celebratory atmosphere where people could relax and just be themselves with no fear of any discrimination or other forms of prejudice.
Liverpool FC confirmed its participation in the Pride march as part of the club’s ongoing equality, diversity and inclusion programme.
Online, LGBTQ+ people are abused every day. Lies spread through algorithms that reward outrage, turning hate into profit. Too many social media companies have decided that engagement matters more than truth.
In Russia, a gay nightclub owner has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being accused of involvement with an alleged “international LGBTQ+ movement.”
In Uganda, one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws continues to threaten lives, with severe prison sentences and even the death penalty in some circumstances.
In Hungary, governments have sought to restrict Pride events and LGBTQ+ visibility, attempting to push our community out of public life.
Liverpool’s Pride is traditionally held on the weekend closest to 2 August in memory of Michael Causer, the gay teenager who died after being attacked in Liverpool in 2008. The event was first held in 2010 and has become one of the UK’s largest Pride festivals outside London.
Pride is a celebration of LGBTQ+ people and communities, but it is also a public demonstration in support of equality, visibility and the protection of LGBTQ+ rights.
Modern Pride events trace their origins to the Stonewall Uprising in New York City in June 1969, when members of the LGBTQ+ community resisted a police raid on the Stonewall Inn. The protests became a defining moment in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
The first Pride marches were held in 1970 to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and to campaign for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Pride events have since spread to cities around the world.
Although legal protections for LGBTQ+ people have increased significantly in the UK over recent decades, campaigners argue Pride remains important because discrimination, hate crime and unequal outcomes continue to affect many LGBTQ+ people.
Others argue that Pride should place greater emphasis on protest and campaigning rather than corporate sponsorship and entertainment, while supporters of the current model say large public celebrations help promote visibility, inclusion and acceptance. The balance between celebration and protest has become an ongoing debate within the Pride movement.
To find out more about how Pride was celebrated in Liverpool, please visit https://prideinliverpool.co.uk/
