Pride in the UK: The Roots and Rise of LGBTQ+ Solidarity

Jessica Webber
Jun 30
3 min read

The Stonewall Inn

In the early hours of the 28th of June 1969, New York’s Stonewall Inn was raided by the NYPD simply for being recognised as an LGBTQ+ venue. This raid was part of a broader pattern of discriminatory and oppressive policing, in which the NYPD repeatedly targeted LGBTQ+ communities and the spaces they occupied. The Stonewall Inn, alone, was raided on an average of once a month leading up to the 28th of June. On this particular night, instead of dispersing to avoid arrest, patrons and those who had gathered outside fought back, starting a protest that continued for the following two nights. As Stormé DeLarverie (a female performer who wore traditionally masculine clothes and the first person to physically resist police at Stonewall) described: “It was a rebellion, it was an uprising. It wasn’t no damn riot”. The Stonewall uprising is now one of the most famous acts of resistance in LGBTQ+ history, and the catalyst for Pride as we know it today.

Pride in the UK

When the two British activists, Aubrey Walter and Bob Mellor, returned from attending demonstrations in the US, they founded the London branch of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). On the 1st of July, 1972, the GLF organised the first British Gay Pride march in London. The date was chosen in commemoration of The Stonewall Riots, being the closest Saturday to the anniversary. An estimated 2000 people showed up. One of the organisers, Peter Tatchell, said that the “aim was to show that we were proud… we wanted to make ourselves visible and demand LGBT liberation”. Over the following years, Pride marches began to be held yearly across the UK.

Solidarity

The election of Thatcher’s Conservative government brought with it a new impetus to Pride. During the extensive pit closures and miners’ strikes, a number of LGBTQ+ activists began to organise in solidarity with the unions. In 1984, they founded the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) organisation, to raise funds from the LGBT community in support of the strikes. As a result, the 1985 Pride march became a symbol of alliance. With the miners among their numbers, the LGSM were the largest single contingent on the march that year, with well over 1000 people! While the LGSM bridged gaps between different social movements, they also brought attention to experiences of class within the LGBTQ+ community, ultimately making Pride more intentionally intersectional.

Image credit - Bishopsgate Institute LGBTQIA+ Archives

Pride Today

Pride events have become a firmly established part of the UK calendar, with the number of regional events growing year by year. However, while Pride today is very much a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, it is also an ongoing campaign for equal rights. ‘From the very beginning these events combined politics with celebration’. This has led to the founding of organisations, such as Black Pride and Interpride, which work to keep progressing the movement and provide safe spaces for diverse sexualities, gender identities and expressions, cultures, and all intersectional communities.

Upcoming Pride Events

UK Black Pride are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year with a line-up of performances, talks, community stalls and workshops in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London on Sunday the 10th of August. Find out more here.

London Pride 2025- 5 July

Bristol Pride 2025- 12 July

Brighton Trans Pride 2025- 19 July

Glasgow Pride 2025- 19 July

Northern Pride 2025- 19-20 July

Leeds Pride 2025- 20 July 2025

Belfast Pride 2025- 26 July

Brighton Pride 2025- 2-3 August

Find a full itinerary of UK and Ireland Pride events here.

References

Lomax, N. (2024) The History of Pride in the UK. Available at: https://www.visionlinens.com/blog/the-

history-of-pride-in-the-uk?srsltid=AfmBOor3YmFELmY7bd2wNIna_iEV4-