Political pride activists are ruining pride for the non political.

Pride was literally born out of clashes with the police. Stonewall wasn’t a brunch, it was a riot…

When they go to football matches, maybe they can just watch the game. They're there already after all. And during royal parades instead of watching the crowd maybe they can watch the horses go past.

They are there to do a job. While I want them to be friendly and approachable, I don't want them joining in with the festivities.

Some people really are ****ing miserable aren’t they lmao

Let’s not generalise all gay men, please. :nono:

I really appreciate some of the police want to be more involved but I agree they are there to police the event and should be doing just that. If they want to join in, they should have taken the time off of work.

Of course that's what I meant. I did not mean to generalise and apologise unreservedly x

They can police the event and not be stoic bastards while doing it, it doesn’t need to be an either or situation

My issue is if something (god forbid) happened like a bomb/attack, they’d have come straight under fire for not being fully alert doing their job though. Nobody is saying they need to be stoic (well I’m not) but they are there to do a job to protect, so they should be focused on that. If they wanted to join the march they should, and can do so off-duty.

That's exactly what I mean. Like I said, I want them to be friendly and approachable, but they can't be alert and nip crimes and problems in the bud if they're dancing.

What is it now.:joker:

A bit of a sh1tshow. Shame, considering what it achieved.

I've been to one in London, it was to busy for me. That must have been about 10 years ago though. It doesnt seem as busy or as popular amongst the LGB community now though. Everything's probably overpriced now, call it payback time from the companies that pandered to it in the past.

You’re just misinformed. I’ll fix that for you.

2014
~750,000 spectators
2015
~1 million spectators, ~30,000 marchers ()
2016
~1 million+ spectators ()
2017
~1 million spectators; 26,000+ marchers ()
2018
~1 million+ spectators, ~30,000 marchers ()
2019
~1.5 million spectators ()
2020–21
Canceled due to COVID‑19 ()
2022
1–1.5 million (50th anniversary) ()
2023
~1.5 million+ ()
2024–25
~1.5 million+ signal strong continued turnout

As you can see in the last ten years, it’s grown quite a bit and numbers have been consistent.

Now all the free funding has been pulled they will fade away a fair bit

Pride events contribute between £80-£100m annually to the countries economy. How much do homophobes and bigots contribute?

They don’t contribute much beyond Facebook comments and a few angry letters to the council, to be honest. While Pride events bring in tens of millions to the UK economy every year, homophobes mostly contribute bitter tweets, pub rants, and the occasional Daily Mail headline.

So, you know… not exactly a net gain. But congrats guys!

Must have been all the attention I got that made it feel busy.

Nice to see it growing.

London Pride returns as events struggle with falling funds
 

But despite huge visitor numbers, organisers say the event – and others like it around the country – face an uncertain future due to a drop in funding and falling volunteer numbers.

More than 85 Pride organisations say they’ve seen a reduction in corporate sponsorships or partnerships, according to a questionnaire by the UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON), which said it represents the majority of UK Pride events.

https://lordspress.co.uk/business/lo...falling-funds/

The free funding has stopped and it's having a huge impact

Also various scandals like Surrey and indeed this thread topic

I’m sure they’ll be fine. Who knows maybe they’ll go back to being protests.

But the Police do watch the games, as well as also doing their job.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about the level of corporate involvement , it’s great for funding and great for the staff at said company, but sometimes it just looks like a sponsorship parade. I much prefer seeing the community groups, sports teams etc…

…that linked London Press article about the funding is really interesting, actually…how global corporations with head offices based in America have had their DEI funding cut, which has meant that even long standing contributors and supporters of events like Pride …?…no longer have their budgets to be able to support…the saying being used…’If America sneezes, the UK catches cold…’…hopefully the Farage man won’t ever become PM in the UK because he’s already pledged to eradicate DEI funding and take us all back to the dark ages of exclusivity…

Do they not have LGBT folk work openly within the police there? Pretty much all of local govt attends Pride events here, including Sheriff. It's not a hidden thing and I don't think considered to be that heavily political...?

On the topic of vehicles though:

Deputy under investigation after comment about gay pride parade
(2019) https://abc13.com/post/deputy-in-hot...mment/5366604/

It's a dumb comment because taxpayer money is being used to send out officers on OT to make sure people don't get stupid. Putting a car in the parade is a positive PR move and helps with recruitment. Law enforcement are facing serious shortages as people retire out.

I don't tend to view Pride as a referendum (for lack of a better word) on the current buzzword issues. I see it as a catch all invite for different kinds of people to come together to support each other's ideas around celebrating what Pride generally represents and if there are protest-y people (loud voices for their favorite thing) participating, that sits really normal for most here as we're accustomed to exercising our Freedom of Speech at opportune moments?... but the community event itself doesn't necessarily have to carry the same political messaging. I've known LGBT folk on all parts of the political spectrum here, anyway... but maybe our area is just more accepting.

but they don't celebrate goals Mock do they or join in with clapping and chants(and they don't watch games as the traditional job of the policeman is done by min wage security at games now)

My uncle does EJs (Extra jobs) with official games here. They certainly watch the games from within the role of why they're there. Staff also watch the games as well during breaks in activity :shrug: Uncle has also brought back lots of goodies from those events for himself, family and friends though from the shops...

Police play a critical role in the communities they serve so it makes sense they're there to be front and center in events responsible for safety, but also on occasion interacting with people in a non-police-y way to show everything is normal. That's normal also in daily police work. Having family in the role I know they can't "relax" the same way as others, especially in uniform, because there has to be default a line between them and other people that can't be fully crossed the same way it might in normal circumstances... so they would on average be more alert than most people even if they're "showing pride". Maybe wearing a department pin or something... it's not unusual special items sometimes get made that we're able to have to wear or display at home or in different settings. In this case, anything LGBT-related would just be considered depicting parts of the community that they actually serve :shrug:

I agree.

It's actually very sad to see that this person who complained is probably against PRIDE events anyway.
Along with others they'd like them banned more than likely.

I think it's far more rooted in homophobia myself.
Gay people in the Police have had to endure equally bad discrimination in the past against them as in the armed forces too.
I see nothing wrong personally in joining in a fun event and celebrations of freedoms hard won by anyone, regardless of profession.
I'd more welcome and celebrate the Police allowed to be how they want to be too as to sexuality.
Everyone should be free from homophobic prejudice of others, it's really sad it it is something that IS still alive and kicking.

The lady in question is an out and proud Lesbian :laugh:

If we've (US taxpayers) have been giving enough money that it makes its way abroad to fund their organization, then the taxpayer were being ripped off and it was rightfully cut, imv.

as if police officers can't be fans of certain teams


also they can celebrate post match, when they are home, grabbing a beer most likely

…that’s a fair comment also, Maru…but I do feel that it’s a bit more layered than that for those companies who branch out internationally …even in regards to tax etc, to invest in events in the countries that they want to and do trade in makes complete sense financially also…or has often done in the past, that’s obviously changing because of very controlled budget cuts and ‘controlled’ does have the feel of ‘controlling’ by (some) governments…

…EDIT:… would have thought its referring to private businesses also../…not any funded by tax payers…

Once again, there are plenty of LGBT people who don't like Pride. We are not a monolithic group. You can dislike pride and be LGBT.

You are arguing a point no one has made

not sure why?

Indeed but the rather dramatic implication was not they they did not care for "Pride" it was that they actively disliked it

" is probably against PRIDE events anyway."

"They'd like them banned more than likely."

"I think it's far more rooted in homophobia myself."

I sincerely doubt any of the above is even remotely true:laugh:

It might not be true, but it doesn't mean it couldn't be. Some LGBT people do actively dislike Pride, some LGBT would like it banned and some LGBT people are homophobic against other subsections of the LGBT community.

That's all true.

The lady is part of the LGB community. You’ll find there’s an increasing number in the LGB community who are trying to separate themselves for the TQ+ community on the basis LGB is about sexuality whereas TQ+ is about gender ideology/identity which is not the same thing/experiences and shouldn’t be all lumped in together.

I do see the merit in this, absolutely, and I do think grouping T (particularly) with LGB confuses the matter for all. They are different, but the Trans community has already been an integral part of the gay community for historic reasons, right back to the very first pride riot and really LGBT is just made from a collection of people who were all persecuted for similar reasons despite the distinct differences between the identities.

And so while I understand the logic of "it's not the same, it shouldn't be grouped together" I also understand there is a 'strength in numbers' and particularly for historic reasons that was extremely vital for fighting for rights.

T was only added in the late 90s if I recall correctly. Prior to that it was just LGB.

There is strength in numbers, but there is this expectation for the LGB community to wholeheartedly support everything the TQ+ community fight for, which isn’t always the case.

That's how I remember it also because of all the bitching done. It was when I learned about the topic of trans for the first time also.

We thought also then there were too many letters. If only we knew...

No I know, I'm just speaking more about the history of the group as people, rather than letters. The T was added later, but it was added because of their intertwined history with fighting for the rights of LGBT people.