Record Breaking Million-Plus People Flock to City to Celebrate London Pride’s 50th Anniversary

Over a million people flocked to London to attend this year's Pride celebrations, marking 50 years since the first march for LGBTQ+ rights in the capital.

More than 600 groups are reported to have attended this year’s celebration, marching from Hyde Park to Whitehall Palace, as reported by the BBC. Dubbed "the biggest and most inclusive event in history", the parade route this year paid tribute to the original march back in 1972.

The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute to the bravery of those who arranged the first events, describing the 50th anniversary a "milestone". "It gives me the greatest pride to lead a country where you can love whomever you choose to love. And where you can be free to be whoever you want to be,” shared the PM in a statement. "This hasn't always been a given, and certainly wasn't the case 50 years ago. Marching the streets in 1972 was an incredibly brave thing to do, and today will see thousands of people, friends and families once more coming together to mark the tremendous milestone of 50 years of our capital's Pride."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also described the event as celebration of “community, unity and progress”. However, he also warned against being “complacent”. "We're back after the last two-and-a-half years or so. This year is the 50th anniversary of Pride, celebrating this community, celebrating the progress made, but also continuing to campaign and never be complacent,” said Khan. “We saw this time last week an attack in Oslo just hours before that parade, where two people lost their lives and more than 20 were injured. So, we've got to be conscious of the fact that there's still a danger to this community of discrimination, bias and violence. But allies like me are really important to support this community."

The director of Pride in London, Chris Joell-Deshields, shared Khan’s sentiment, highlighting that despite "momentous" rights and freedoms being earned since the inaugural event, there is much “more to be done".

Peter Tatchell, one of the UK’s most prominent LGBTQ+ activists, who helped organise the first march, along with other Gay Liberation Front (GLF) veterans, told Sky News that the Pride parade has become “overly commercial and corporate”. He along with other veterans retraced the route of the 1972 march on Friday ahead of Saturday’s parade in “an attempt to reclaim the radical roots of pride, which was both a celebration and a protest”.

Tatchell, who has attended every Pride in London since the first march in 1972, said he is "totally opposed to the way in which pride in London has become so corporate and so commercial”. "The big major firms are the only ones who can afford to fund huge extravagant floats,” stated Thatchell. “They totally dominate the official parade and overshadow the LGBTQ+ community groups who should be the focus of pride."

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