“They didn’t show their face in public for fear of arrest, rejection by their friends and family, and being sacked from their jobs.' “Back then, most LGBTQ+ people were ashamed and closeted,” recalls activist Peter Tatchell, who helped to organise the 1972 march. It came after the UK’s first LGBTQ+ rights demonstration that took place on November 27, 1970, when 150 members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) held a torchlight rally against police harassment in north London’s Highbury Fields. It’s now half a century since the first Pride march took place in London in 1972, in which hundreds took to the streets in protest against oppression, police mistreatment, and homophobia. But it’s also a significant year to look back at all of what the LGBTQ+ movement has achieved. Dozens of events will be held this month from Belfast to London and Shetland to Brighton where queer people and their allies will march, raise placards, and party.
2022 is a landmark year for Britain’s LGBTQ+ community as it marks 50 years of UK Pride.
