Fifty-three years ago today, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) organised the UK's first Gay Pride march. Two thousand people walked from Hyde Park Corner to Trafalgar Square. This was the beginning of everything that followed.
In 1972, homosexuality had been partially decriminalised for just five years. Society was hostile. Visibility required extraordinary courage. The GLF understood that liberation meant more than legal reform – it meant the right to exist openly and without shame.
That march established a principle that remains central to Pride today: our presence is political. Our visibility matters. Our community deserves recognition and respect.
The GLF's approach was uncompromising. They didn't ask for tolerance; they demanded liberation. They didn't seek permission to exist; they claimed their space. This radical stance transformed how LGBTQ+ people saw themselves and how society would eventually see them.
Today's Pride in London is fundamentally different from that first march. What began as a protest demanding basic rights has evolved into a celebration of progress achieved, whilst continuing to champion the rights of LGBTQ+ people worldwide. The scale, tone, and context have all transformed, but the core mission endures.
"Their legacy lives on in every step we take and every young LGBTQ+ person who can now see themselves reflected in our community with pride," says Christopher Joell-Deshields, CEO of Pride in London. "On behalf of all of us at Pride in London, we thank the GLF and those first marchers for paving the way and showing us that liberation begins with the courage to be seen."
The GLF gave us our foundation. Everything Pride in London does today builds on what they started on 1st July 1972.