Campaigners, charities and voluntary groups are left asking many questions today after Pride London, organisers of the year’s World Pride, announced drastic reductions in the staging of the event. A parade that will take place on foot, a greatly reduced rally in Trafalgar Square and an ordinary Saturday night in Soho seem to be on the cards after an emergency multi-agency meeting was held to deal with an under-funding crisis.
The walking parade will follow the original route but will start at 11am; two hours earlier than originally scheduled. This raised worries that visitors may find it too late to change arrangements if they planned to be at the start for 1pm. Organisations had to fork out £2,500 each for a float at Pride and as yet do not know if they have any hope of seeing their money again. Pride London issued a statement attacking rumours that the event was cancelled and scotching rumours that bills from last year were left unpaid. To read more go here, here and here.
To read the official Pride London explanation of the changes and the reasoning behind them, go here