Pride is a celebration, a protest and an awareness day. Whether you are a member of the LGBTQ community or not, it is time to celebrate and rally around your friends. It is a time to show the world that whatever your sexuality, you are equal. For years people were discriminated against for their sexual choice and to some extent, it is still happening in the UK. Every year at Brighton And Hove Pride, people think about their LGBTQ siblings all over the world that is still discriminated against. Countries are still stoning people to death because of their sexual choices. This is not okay.
So Pride is a protest against those countries that sentence people to death for their choices. Pride is a celebration of the Stonewall uprising. And Pride is a celebration of love, dating whoever you want and unity. So there are many reasons for you to attend Brighton And Hove Pride.
Companies Use Pride To Make Money – This Is Not Okay
One thing that does wind me up is all of a sudden around June time, Pride products turn up across shelves in shops. This is not okay. Pride is celebrated every year in June, July and August because it is the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising (or riots). But brands should sell products with Pride collaborations all year long.
Brands should be supporting the LGBTQ community all year long. Not just for 3 months of the year. Do not support these companies, they are only making money. They do not give a percentage of the money to any LGBTQ charities. The brands that you see marching in a Pride march, are the brands to support.
Arriving In Brighton
If you have ever been to Pride before, you will know that it gets very busy. So if you get the train, it is going to be busy but it is also well organised. They will direct you to where you want to go. The best place to stand is either at the start of the parade, where you will catch the people full of energy and enthusiasm for the parade. It is likely to be less busy there too and you will wait less time between the floats too.
The second best place is great if you are also going to the music concert at Preston Park. Wait along the route as it ends and then you simply have a small walk to the park afterwards. But by the time it finishes, people are drunk as they watch the parade and the people walking the parade are tired.
The Parade And Everyone Involved In It
A lot of work goes into Brighton And Hove Pride, there are fantastically decorated floats. But there are also people who walk and just want to show their support. Everyone who walks in Pride will make a difference to someone who is watching. It doesn’t matter what small part they took in the pride march – They still took part.
This year as the theme was Love Protest Unity. And the Ukrainian LGBTQ community were invited along to join in. After all, if anyone should want to Love each other, protest against Russia and Unite with the whole world, then it would be Ukraine. The Ukrainian LGBTQ community chose to dress in black, they said they will start wearing pride colours again when the war is over. They were met with so much love and support at Pride.
The biggest cheers of the day went to the emergency services. Each of the different emergency services took part in Brighton Pride.
The Protests And Speeches At Brighton Pride
Brighton And Hove Pride is a platform. A place where people have their voices heard. Peter Tatchell, the human rights campaigner spoke about how difficult it still is around the world for people to openly live their lives as they want.
To openly live as part of the LGBTQ community. Where they would get stoned to death for daring to think about loving someone of the same sex. He spoke about the war in Ukraine, and how the members of the LQBTQ community didn’t get their pride this year because of the war.
He then bought out onto the stage, 2 members of the Ukrainian pride committee. They spoke of how dire things are in the country at the moment. And that until the war is over, their pride colours will be black. Hopefully, the powerful words from the stage will be heard.
The Awesome Music At Preston Park
At Brighton And Hove Pride, there is always a music concert afterwards. The concert lasts for two days and there is always a couple of decent headline music stars to finish the weekend. This year there were some amazing acts, Christina Aguilera, Ella Henderson and Paloma Faith. As well as some smaller acts that opened up for the bigger acts. Each person performing on the stage had a reason to do it.
When you decide to go to Brighton And Hove Pride, buy your music tickets as soon as you can because early bird tickets are cheaper. You get to be part of something huge for a cheaper price than going to a concert somewhere else. There are food and drink places to grab something if you get hungry or thirsty. Prices can be very expensive, so take loads of money with you. There is also a small fun fair and some smaller stages with other acts to watch.
