The History of Pride Month
Pride Month was born from a series of demonstrations, protests and rallies following the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City; on 28 June 1970, the first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
In the UK, a branch of the Gay Liberation Front was formed following the events of Stonewall, the London Gay Liberation Front, with the first meeting taking place in October 1970. Then, in august 1971, the GLF Youth Group demonstrated in Trafalgar Square, in an event sometimes called ‘Pride before Pride’.
On 1 July 1972, the first Pride march was held in the UK, taking place on the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots; however in 1988, Section 28 attempted to limit Pride activity with the outlawing of intentionally promoting homosexuality. Protests sprung up to repeal Section 28 and in 2003, Section 28 was officially repealed.
Over the following years, many other cities around the UK began holding their own Pride events, including Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff and more.
Since 2010, many of the UK’s cities have held regular Pride events each June, although London still remains the largest in the UK, over 50 years since it’s inception; in 2022, the estimated attendance of Pride was 1-1.5 million people.
London Pride has changed since it’s inception and now those wanting to participate must apply to march in the parade; many businesses and organisations also pay to take part.
Within June, there is also International LGBT Pride Day, a day dedicated to LGBT Pride, and it is held on June 28 to commemorate the Stonewall Riots anniversary.
Did you know?
Gay marriage was made legal in England and Wales (and later in Scotland) in 2013.
The Pride celebrations in 2017 marked 50 years since it stopped being illegal for two men to be in a relationship in England and Wales.
Support at CAW
You can find our full Pride Guide, with information about key terms, flags, pronouns and how to be a good ally here.
CAW also offers a range of wellbeing support and resources, all of which can be found on our dedicated wellbeing page here.