I wondered if it was just me imagining that Pride in London had changed this year since I last attended this celebration of LGBT rights before the Covid pandemic in 2019. But others have noted the same thing. It was much more political. More an act of defiance than celebratory. Less obviously corporate. And a significant and loud transgender presence.
The world has changed over the last four years. So-called “culture wars” have intensified. For the first time since the late 1980s, there is a sense that LGBT rights could be sliding backwards by degrees. The notion that liberation was assured by increments and would never be taken away is now being disabused. History is a cruel mistress and can move backwards as well as forwards.
Some countries moving backwards fast on LGBT rights
That was very obviously evident with representation on the parade by groups from Ukraine, Hong Kong, but especially Uganda and other African countries now clamping down viciously on LGBT rights. Uganda has officially made same sex acts punishable be death. The President there has claimed this is a smack in the face to western, neo-colonialist attitudes (favouring LGBT equality) even though his policies are largely the result of lobbying by American-funded evangelical and right-wing groups.
It was good to see a strong recognition of what’s happening on the international stage. Ukraine led the parade, keen to burnish its pro-LGBT credentials in marked comparison to the country invading its sovereign territory – Russia.
Putin of course has been a key driver in helping to create an increasingly difficult climate for LGBT people across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. But also Europe.
The less political Pride of 2019 was all about celebrating diversity in the UK. But this year, there was a harder headed message about LGBT people literally being killed or locked up for their sexuality around the world.
Transgender rights and the defiance of Gen-Z
The emerging coalition of anti-LGBT conservatives and some Boomer feminists – better known to you as Terfs – has unfortunately made headway in the corridors of power in recent months. But then a quick glance at history will show you that our rights didn’t trickle down from the House of Lords or the courts but had to be campaigned for. If you doubt that, go back and look at debates on Clause 28 in the late 1980s to see what MPs and peers used to say about LGBT people. It’s really quite jaw dropping.
What Pride in London 2023 evidenced was that transgender people have no intention of reducing their visibility or demands for justice and young people – Gen-Z or Zoomers if you prefer – are majority accepting of diversity and a more fluid attitude to identity. Observing LGBT Pride 2023, it really struck me that we risk a generational rift on issues around transgender – and ultimately ‘queer’ identity.
One recent commentator summed it up well. Politicians will continue for now to bend their ears towards voters who tend to be more conservative and anti-trans. Corporates though must be aware that their future consumers are Gen-Z and Millennials who expect brands to be ethical. A display of that occurred early on in the parade when young Just Stop Oil protestors sat in front of the Coca-Cola float – and they demanded Pride cut links with unethical corporates.
While there was still a strong private sector presence at Pride 2023, it felt to me that budgets had been cut back. Far less of the big floats of yesteryear. What conclusions to draw? Tougher economic climate of course. But one wonders if there’s also a de-prioritising of LGBT diversity. At at time when it can hardly be said that the battle is won.
