Pride in London – live: Huge crowds turn out for LGBT+ celebration with march through capital
This year’s theme is ‘Never March Alone’ in support of trans and non-binary allyship
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Huge crowds turned out for Pride in London with thousands taking part in a colourful parade through the capital.
The 2023 theme is ‘Never March Alone’ in support of trans and non-binary allyship and about 600 LGBT+ groups will attend.
It marks 51 years since the first march for LGBT+ rights in the capital, in 1972.
This year, the parade began at 12pm and ran from Hyde Park Corner, through Piccadilly Circus, down Haymarket and along Pall Mall to Trafalgar Square, culminating at Whitehall Place. Crowds were invited to watch from any of the designated public spaces along the route.
This year, The Independent is proud to be the exclusive media partner of Pride in London and will be taking part in the parade, which is led by mayor Sadiq Khan.
Rita Ora and Adam Lambert will be among those performing at the main stage on Trafalgar Square.
A detailed map of the parade route and key locations can be found here.
Thanks for following along with our coverage of Pride - you can read a full account of the celebrations here:
The LGBT+ Pride of London: Thousands march through the capital in celebration
The event marked 51 years since the first-ever march for LGBT+ rights in the capital
Watch: Moment police remove Just Stop Oil protesters in front of Pride float
London Pride in pictures
Just Stop Oil protestors arrested
Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested after disrupting London's Pride march in protest over the parade accepting sponsorship money from "high-polluting industries".
The Metropolitan Police said that protesters sat in the middle of the road on Piccadilly at 1.30pm, causing the parade to stop.
After 16 minutes, police arrested seven protesters for public nuisance offences and the parade continued again one minute later.
Video posted online showed officers picking up protesters -who were blocking the road in front of a Coca-Cola truck - and carrying them away.
Just Stop Oil has previously warned it would take action as it called on organisers of the major event to ban floats from "high-polluting" sponsors and to condemn new oil, gas and coal.
In a statement, LGBT+ members of the group said: "These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries."
LGBT+ people are "suffering first" in the "accelerating social breakdown" caused by climate change, they added.
"Pride was born from protest," the statement continued.
"It speaks to how far we've come as a community that high-polluting industries and the banks that fund them now see Pride as a useful vehicle for sanitising their reputations, waving rainbow flags in one hand whilst accelerating social collapse with the other."
Just Stop Oil said earlier on Saturday: "If London Pride fails to take these basic steps necessary to protect our community, we will have to consider potential escalations which may result in the disruption of Pride.
"We will also call for the entire LGBTQ+ community to join us in protest and boycott - for the safety of LGBTQ+ people everywhere."
Read: Michael Gunning on being gay and swimming for Jamaica
As a child, Michael Gunning says he had a "big fear of swimming". Not what you’d expect from someone who has competed in the World Championships twice. He swam for Team GB and Jamaica at the highest level, but retired last May from professional swimming aged just 28.
Many milestone events in his relatively short life have marked his career. Undoubtedly, one of the most pivotal moments came in 2017. Gunning went to a concert which changed the lives of everyone in the audience forever, and reverberated far beyond the doors of the arena. It was the Manchester bombing terrorist attack at Ariana Grande’s concert which devastatingly killed 22 people. Gunning managed to escape, but the effects of survivor’s guilt have long lingered. "In that moment, I didn’t really help many people – I just ran," he says.
That feeling has since made him want to "make a difference" and "an impact" for others in sport, not only as a Black swimmer, but also as an athlete who is proudly part of the LGBT+ community.
Emma Henderson writes:
‘If they knew about my sexuality, I don’t think they’d have encouraged me to swim’
Ex-professonial swimmer Michael Gunning speaks to Emma Henderson about being gay while swimming for Jamaica as an anti-LGBT country, how Tom Daley helped him come out and how his work is helping support equal rights around the world
The Independent marches for 2023 Pride as official media partner
Just Stop Oil protestors disrupt Pride in London parade
Just Stop Oil protestors have disrupted the Pride in London parade on Saturday.
The group said it is calling on London Pride to “cease accepting sponsorship money from high polluting industries and stop allowing the inclusion of floats from these organisations in the parade”.
At around 1:25pm, Just Stop Oil said nine of its LGBTQ+ supporters blocked the Pride parade in front of the Coca-Cola float, a company that frequently gets accused of being one of the world’s worst plastic polluters.
Some demonstrators blocked the float while two others sprayed pink and black paint over the road.
Peter Tatchell, a member of the Gay Liberation Front and the civil resistance group OutRage!, said: “Our community must not collude with environment, species and climate destroying companies.”
‘Support trans rights, stop the hate’ sign held by spectators
Cast of Netflix’s Heartstopper spotted at Pride
Kit Connor and Joe Locke are among the cast members of Netflix’s hit show Heartstopper who are taking part in the Pride in London parade.
The series is a coming-of-age story about a romance between two queer teenagers and has amassed a huge fanbase.
In pictures: Colourful crowds celebrating
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