What a shambles!
From
GayStar News:
"Pride London bosses have confirmed they have axed the cars and floats from the World Pride parade on 7th July.
The event will now be a ‘procession’, they say, with ‘walking groups only’ and will start earlier at 11am due to the organisers' 'cash crisis'.
The decision comes after an emergency all-agency meeting at City Hall."
The DJ events in Soho are cancelled, and the Trafalgar Square stage will close earlier, at 6pm.
We are furious at this last minute decision, as many people must be. Admittedly it is doesn't have a huge impact for our gang, as we only ever do the procession and hardly bother with the after-parties or the big stage. Gay Pride is a
march, after all! A presence. A statement. A message of unity and strength.
However, we do feel the whole debacle will have a major knock-on effect for not just the groups who have stumped up thousands of pounds for their floats, but also on the numbers who will be celebrating - this is, after all, supposed to be a "World" event!
As Peter Tatchell (one of the original organisers of the first Pride march
forty years ago in 1972, and understandably livid) said to
Pink News:
"Many people have booked coaches and trains to arrive at the original start time of 1pm, and it’s too late to ensure that everyone knows that the start time has changed. It is going to result in total chaos and gridlock throughout the West End. The police and the Mayor are stark, raving mad to have agreed to this shambles.
"Scaling back speakers and performers on the main stage at Trafalgar Square will cause huge disappointment. The fear is that some of the human rights speakers will be axed as a result, further depoliticising the event.
"Whatever the rights and wrongs, this scaling down of World Pride is a huge embarrassment for London and for our LGBT community. We promised LGBT people world-wide a fabulous, spectacular event. It now looks like World Pride in London will go down in history as a damp squib.
"We’re not only letting down LGBT people in Britain, we’re also betraying the trust and confidence of LGBT people world-wide. This is an absolute disaster."
In my own long history of attending Pride events, this is not the first time I have experienced a cancellation of a Gay Pride party (never the march). It is, to my recollection however, the first time a Pride has been so radically changed at such short notice.
Our plans are going ahead regardless - and
we will have a fab time as always! However, some of the glitter has been removed from the gingerbread...
