“Mayor Boris Johnson should provide an emergency bridging loan, to tide World Pride over its cash-flow problems. The money, around £65,000, will be repayable once the event is over and all receipts are in.
“The Mayor has a duty to save World Pride and, by so doing, London’s reputation. If the event goes belly-up it will be a huge embarrassment to London, just three weeks before the Olympics,” said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who helped organise Britain’s first Gay Pride parade, held in London 40 years ago, in July 1972. He is Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
“I urge the mayor, police and Westminster council to re-open negotiations with the World Pride organisers to allow the scheduled events to take place as previously agreed, for the sake of the million-plus people expected to participate and to avoid widespread disruption across central London.”
Mr Tatchell was commenting on the announcement by the organisers that the World Pride events in London on Saturday 7 July will be massively scaled back. See their news release below.
“The Mayor and Metropolitan Police should insist that the parade start-time is reinstated as 1pm. The sudden decision last week to bring it forward to 11am is a recipe for chaos and confusion,” added Mr Tatchell.
“The change in the parade start time is a huge gamble by the mayor, police and Westminster council. The scheduled orderly parade could well descend into mayhem, with the much of central London becoming gridlocked for hours with vast confused crowds of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
“At this late stage, it will not be possible to alert everyone who is planning to attend. Many people are arriving in London on pre-booked trains, planes and coaches, based on a previously advertised kick-off time of 1pm. They will arrive at the start-point long after the parade has departed. Many will be left wandering the streets, not knowing where to go.
“Instead of an orderly three-hour march, as was previously planned, the tens of the thousands of people arriving late and trying to find the tail-end of the march are likely to bring West End traffic to standstill all afternoon on 7 July.
“It is urgent to reinstate floats, buses and cars in the parade, to allow elderly and disabled LGBT people to participate. Otherwise they won’t be able to attend. The last-minute axing of motorised vehicles is against the spirit of legislation intended to protect disabled and elderly people against exclusion and discrimination.
“Regardless of these problems, the parade will go head. Without the floats and parties, it will revert to its roots – a protest march for LGBT human rights worldwide. The World Pride slogan is: “Decriminalise homosexuality worldwide – Global equality for LGBT people.”
This is entirely appropriate, as July is the 40th anniversary of the UK’s first-ever Gay Pride parade, which took place in London on 1 July 1972.
“The sudden, drastic curtailment of the World Pride parade, rally and street party is a huge blow to London and its gay community. The promised gigantic extravaganza now risks being a huge flop. Visitors from all over Britain and the world face disappointment. It will do great damage to London’s reputation in the run-up to the Olympics