Pride In London, originally planned for 11 September this year, has been cancelled due to Covid complications, and the difficulty of safely holding the parade.
The event last took place in its usual format in 2019 — in 2020, Pride In London was officially moved online, with smaller groups celebrating in person on the streets.
In an announcement video, Executive Director of Pride In London, Chris Joell-Deshields, said,
Last week was extremely challenging navigating the government's recently updated Covid-19 guidelines and legislation for large-scale public events like ours. It became clear when working through final risk assessments that our event could not provide the level of mitigation expected... It would have meant losing the crucial parade and reducing the event to just two or three stages scattered across central London with limited tickets... No parade, no protest, means no Pride.
Tomorrow we start planning the return to the streets of London in 2022 with our most inclusive and queerest event yet ready to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first pride in the UK.
It's been a turbulent few months for the Pride In London executive team, with large changes and resignations at director level — following demands for an investigation into the senior leadership, with claims of a lack of commitment to diversity.
The new senior structure has announced a commitment to transformative change, and Joell-Deshields, in his video speech, stated the wider 2022 aim of 'demanding queer visibility, unity, and equality.'
Watch this space for more info about online Pride events this year, and about the 2022 plans.
