Politicians were accused of “deeply shameful” “point-scoring” over LGBT+ issues as London’s Pride parade took over the centre of the capital today.
1.5 million LGBT+ people and supporters were expected to take to the streets for the annual parade, with community groups, sports clubs, performers and companies taking part.
Ginger Johnson, the most recent winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK, was performing on one and spoke to Sky News before going on stage.
“It is deeply shameful that politicians think they can use LGBT+ issues to score points against each other,” said Ginger.
“It’s easy for them to rile people up with conversations like that [whether trans people should be allowed into single sex bathrooms],” she said.
“I don’t think they understand the danger that puts especially the trans community in.”
Dr Who star David Tennant was called “the problem” by Rishi Sunak this week after he told Women and Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch to “shut up” because of her views on trans rights.
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“It’s just really really sad,” said Kelly Panayi who was watching the parade with her wife.
“Who cares what people are, what they want to do? As long as they’re not hurting each other, why does it matter?”
With fancy dress as far as the eye could see, plenty of people were taking the opportunity to celebrate the LGBT+ community together.
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“When I was younger, I was a bit afraid to be gay in public,” said Graham Kenny from Dublin.
“Pride is a chance to express yourself and feel safe doing that because everyone is here.”
It’s been 52 years since London’s annual Pride parade began, kicking off three years after the Stonewall riots.
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Those riots were triggered by LGBT+ people being hauled out of the Stonewall Inn by police in New York which kickstarted the gay rights movement.
Ruby Andrews was visiting the UK from the US and came to watch the parade. “It’s just fantastic to see how you all are celebrating Pride, the numbers of people, we don’t see this number [in the US].”
