The LGBTQIA+ parade in London, England, takes place on Saturday (2) with tributes to the protesters who, 50 years ago, dared in the fight against discrimination and for equality, holding the first edition of the event. The march took place on July 1, 1972 and was organized by the activist group Gay Liberation Front.
“It was exciting. It was empowering. We thought we could take over the world and change it. It was about changing the system too,” says John R. Lloyd, 69, one of the protesters.
Roz Kaveney, 73, a transgender woman, recalls that one of the goals of the march was to convey the message that no one should say who people were or what they had to do. “It was about autonomy. It was about freedom and joy,” she says.
A resident of Deal, in southern England, Simon Watney, 73, looked at old photos of the march and remembered his reasons for joining his then-boyfriend. “I just didn’t want to be a criminal. I found it outrageous to have to grow up like all my friends under the shadow of the law,” he said.
Watney recalls that viewers reacted in different ways. “Some people spat, others screamed. Most people were surprised, I think, and perplexed. Some just turned away.”
Eric Ollerenshaw, 72, recalled that officers that day were not rude, but seemed “clearly uncomfortable.” It was a time when coming out was something completely new, said Nettie Pollard, 72. “The idea that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people shouldn’t hide.”
London’s LGBTQIA+ Pride march has grown to become the largest free event in the country, with 30,000 participants registered this year. The honorees will be the torchbearers of the first stop, 50 years ago. Challenges that the community still faces nationally and globally will also be highlighted.
Veteran activist Peter Thatchell, who also marched in 1972, claims the parade has become over-commercialized and corporate in recent years and that today it would participate in an alternative event. “Now it’s basically become one big party. And parties are good, but we also need to protest because there’s still unfinished business. There are still battles for our community to fight and win.”
Thatchell said he would like to see a simplification of the process by which trans people change their legal identity.
Some of the veteran activists still reflect on the fragility of the rights they have won. “This world can be transformed overnight and taken away, as we are sadly seeing in Russia. And there is no freedom that cannot be reversed,” Watney said.
Lebanese doctor Jawad, 27, who has revealed only his first name, said he will march for the first time this year, in the London parade, because he himself has been the target of hatred in Lebanon and Russia. “I was almost arrested for being gay by a militia in Lebanon. So, because I feel insecure there and unable to live my life freely as a gay man, I had to leave,” he said.
“I can’t be who I really am without hiding my whole life.”
Jawad said he was grateful to the protesters who paved the way for future generations. “For many people it may just be a march, but for me it means so much more. It means I can safely walk in a place and talk about my problems. Talk about my rights and also embrace my sexuality and orientation.”
