Proud

Our gang's chosen theme for Gay Pride 2013 was '1920s black and white Art Deco'. Given the recent media obsession with The Great Gatsby and this year's official theme of 'Love and Marriage', I think it worked very well.

In his message for Pride day (writing about the Equal Marriage Bill), Prime Minister David Cameron said: "There will be girls and boys in school today who are worried about being bullied and concerned about what society thinks of them because they are gay or lesbian. By making this change they will be able to see that Parliament believes their love is the same as anyone else's love and that we believe in equality.

"I think this will enable them to stand that bit taller, be that bit more confident and I am proud of that."

London Community Pride patron Martina Navratilova: "Once you have equal marriage and rights and have full equality under the law it just validates you and makes prejudice that is overt impossible.

"In the US, for example, in 29 states you can be fired for being gay or fired if your employer thinks you are gay.

"So it’s not about marriage itself. It’s about equal rights overall. Marriage represents that. Once you can get married then nobody can say “you can’t do this because you are gay”. Or fire me for being gay. That’s what marriage represents. It’s much more than just marriage."

London Gay Pride 2013

We were proud to be there. Proud to be dressed extravagantly. Proud to be loud and "in yer face". Proud to be a part of such a huge throng of thousands upon thousands of people. Proud to hold hands and kiss in the streets of the greatest city in the World. Proud of our own achievements, and those of others who fought their battles before us. Proud to be amongst good friends.

London Gay Pride 2013 #2

London Gay Pride 2013 #3

Yesterday's Gay Pride was great day.