For people outside of the LGBT+ community, I imagine it is easy to wonder why we still need to organise Pride events every year.
After all, same sex couples can legally marry, and individuals are protected under various anti-discrimination laws - to a casual observer, it seems like the hardest battles have already been won.
But all you need to do is look at recent headlines to see that this is far from the case.
Parents have been protesting outside primary school gates as teachers have told pupils about the existence of same sex relationships, and Tory leadership candidates such as Esther McVey have gone so far as to agree with the erasure of people’s true identities in an educational setting.
That a gang of 15-year-olds brutally attacked a lesbian couple on a bus in the same week only underlines the vital need for children to be raised knowing and understanding the LGBT+ community - and why Pride remains as relevant as ever.
Which is why it was so joyous to see thousands of people brave the rain to attend the first Cambridge Pride, eager to embrace the festival’s message of love and acceptance.
City of love
Cambridgeshire has Britain’s largest LGBT population outside of London, so it’s no surprise that the long gestating first event has been such a success.
But when recent headlines have been so bleak (from the violence and erasure of queer lives, to the homophobic attempts to undermine the community witnessed in the plans for a “straight pride” parade), the success of a small, volunteer run community event should have us all jumping for joy, even if it was always destined to be a success.
As Pride becomes an increasingly corporate event elsewhere, where gigantic corporations take up the majority of the floats on every parade, Cambridge Pride has successfully reconnected with what the roots of the celebration are.
Pride’s origins were in protest, using the parade as an opportunity for members of the community to present themselves to the world and passionately declare their need for love, acceptance and equal rights.
The organisers of Cambridge Pride have remembered this.
No one left behind
Large companies were nowhere to be seen on the River Cam parade, replaced by small community groups waving banners that urged bystanders to think about different subsections of the community, from the transgender people who put the “T” in LGBT, to the queer people of colour who can still face discrimination for more than just their sexuality.
It was a parade of pure positivity, and one that reminds that no matter how privileged some of us may be, the necessity for Pride is still there if anybody in this community is facing adversity.
As a gay white man in a liberal city, with the bonus luxury of passing as a straight white man, I’m fully aware that I don’t face the same struggles as the trans people who face daily harassment on the street, or the LGBT people from less accepting cultures, where revealing your true identity could lead to being cut off from your family and friends.
Cambridge Pride did a good job of making sure we never forgot those people, in both the parade and through a number of speeches on the main stage.
By putting the community above any corporate sponsor, and having community groups lead the event instead of having a pop diva headline in their place, the festival felt more authentic than any major pride event I’ve previously attended.
Let’s hope it stays true to its roots when it grows into a bigger festival next year.
