🌈 UK Pride History - How did we get to today? 🌈

Holly_Scope

The first UK pride march was held on the 1st July 1972 in London. The date was selected as the closest to the uprising of Stonewall Inn in 1969. There are mixed reports about the volume of attendees. Both the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and Campaign for Homosexuality Equality are noted as key organisers. An organiser, Peter Tatchell said “Our aim was to show that we were proud, not ashamed. Determined to come out of the shadows and stand up for our rights, we wanted to make ourselves visible and demand LGBT liberation.”

So… how did we get to this first UK event?

Following the raid at Stonewall Inn, (see 🌈 The History of Pride: The story of Stonewall Inn 1969 🌈 for more detail) Gay Liberation Front (GLF) branches formed across the US. The Black Panthers’ Revolutionary Peoples Convention invited representatives from the women’s and LGBTQ+ movements for the first time. Two British activists, Aubrey Walter and Bob Mellor travelled to the US to attend where Huey P Newton, the Black Panther Party co-founder said “We must gain security in ourselves and therefore have respect and feelings for all oppressed people […] When we have revolutionary conferences, rallies, and demonstrations, there should be full participation of the gay liberation movement and the women’s liberation movement”. The two British activists returned to London and formed that branch of the GFL at the London School of Economics with the first meeting taking place in October 1970.

On the 27th November that same year, the first demonstration was held by the group in Highbury Fields, the arrest point of liberal activist Louis Eakes who was arrested for “importuning”. Louis Eakes has always stipulated he was entrapped by the police, and the GLF described the polices action as a “gay-in”. Approx 150 arrived, some with streamers, balloons, fireworks and flares to the protest the treatment of gay people.

For context, the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality via the Sexual Offences Act 1967 where it denoted it was no longer illegal for two men over 21 to have intercourse in private in England and Wales, men continued to be persecuted for indecency, soliciting or importuning offences. Something used to criminalise interactions that wouldn’t have been a legal issue for a man and woman.

The GLF then went on to demonstrate about the age of consent for gay men being 21. This took place in August 1971 in Trafalgar Square. It’s also known as Pride before Pride.

This leading to the first UK’s pride march detailed at the start of this post.

Since then, pride marches continued being held around the country however this wasn’t without challenges. In 1988 the Local Government Act (section 28) was introduced, stipulating “A local authority shall not […] intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality”. This resulted in some councils removing support for Pride celebrations, taking a position not to place banners whilst other councils defied this and pledged funding and support to the LGBTQ+ community events. Section 28 was abolished in 2003.

Steve_in_The_City

@Holly_Scope

I read your post with interest, clicked the box to be informed of new messages, and left a detailed response as I know a bit about gay history, being politically motivated in the early 70's. There was a message in my in-box from an Aussie lady who had responded, I clicked the message to find a "comment not found" page. I then found that my initial response to your post had been removed, and the box to be kept informed had been cleared. I simply cannot be bothered to repeat my post but have again clicked on the box to be kept informed.

However, your post is factually incorrect. There is no such thing as the Gay Lesbian Front. GLF stands for Gay Liberation Front and it was open to both females and males but was very largely male dominated. I should know because I ran errands for them, and was politically active. Your post also does not mention Gay Switchboard. Switchboard was an essential helpline for gay people, and is very much part of gay history. The info given on the 'net about it is also incorrect, as it says it was launched in 1974, taking it first call on 4th March. This is not the case. When I was 16 I worked on Switchboard as I could communicate well with youngsters like myself. This would have been about 1972. It was a covert operation and took place underground, so maybe that is why confusion exists about its start date. The address was top secret due to messages of bomb threats etc and very few people knew of its location, not even with The GLF. I had to be told because I was useful.

Finally, your post indicates that there were 2,000 people on the first Pride March. This rubbish. Gay people had very little means of communication, and a mass rally would have been impossible. I went on the 2nd Pride March and there were about 20 of us!

https://thebookishtype.co.uk/products/gay-liberation-front-glf-retro-badge?srsltid=AfmBOorYP6dgFavi6ZXJeMuo8MXplOxaz-QtEG7nXE_OINH5BtaC2FdV

Holly_Scope

Hi @Steve_in_The_City I think there might have been a misunderstanding. This post is very similarly named to 🌈 The History of Pride: The story of Stonewall Inn 1969 🌈 — Scope | Online Community where your comment very much remains. I read it this morning and found it incredibly interesting 😊

I'll have a look at your additional comments now and make the appropriate changes. Perhaps I've used some not so reliable sources here which is a little frustrating as I really wanted to ensure I provided good information for such an important topic. I appreciate you correcting this, and I'm of course always keen to be corrected especially from someone who has lived through these experiences themselves.

Steve_in_The_City

@Holly_Scope

I have to apologise - I got my threads mixed-up! So please forgive and forget…. I think a big problem with gay history is that so much took place underground. You have to work with the info you are given, and I thoroughly understand that. Best regards, Steve.

Holly_Scope

@Steve_in_The_City when I read your comment this morning I was kicking myself a bit and wished I'd posted the UK thread earlier, as what you'd written would have been perfect on here. 😊

It makes complete sense that so much was done underground. I have been appreciating learning more from you about the history. Thank you for being understanding about the errors I've made when researching.

older01

I thought that you might be interested to know how the GLBT changed in the 1980’s following the AIDS horror stories that were known as The Gay Plague. The Terrence Higgins Trust was formed, and following the very public and frightening campaigns aimed at Gay men, it was lesbians who volunteered to nurse the victims of AIDS on the wards. They knew that AIDS was not contracted through touch. They nursed individuals with great dignity until their last days.

Following this, in recognition for their care of the gay men, the L became the first letter of LGBTQ+ as it is today. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️