Bent Mag-Sep 2008

Issue 116 - September 2008

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Brigh ton

Pride

Words and pic tures - S tuar t Linden The firs t whis tle o f Brigh ton Pride ble w a t 11am, carried on the wind from the sea fron t as the rain fell and the parade made i ts s tead y bedraggled wa y to Pres ton Park. Righ t on cue the clouds cleared and the rain finall y s topped as o ver 50,000 people s treamed in to the gian t fun fair. Surrounded b y marke t s talls selling se x to ys, wellies and lube alongside A mnes t y In terna tional, S tone wall and PFL A G the ou trageousl y camp mi xed with the ul tra conser va ti ve, the younger wi th the older and the ga ys wi th the s traigh ts. Brigh ton is a tradi tional values ga y pride, gone are the celebri t y filled s tages and none o f tha t Mardi Gras nonsense ei ther. Brigh ton Pride is wha t i t sa ys on the tin - no more or less. For m y mone y i t is the bes t in the UK and has firml y replaced London, which los t i ts wa y wi th commercialism and big business sponsors, a fa te which has also sadl y be fallen Manches ter.En ter tainmen t was plen ti ful wi th indie pop blaring ou t o f the Pops tarz ten t and the familiar sounds o f house music thundering ou t o f Wild Frui t, bo th ten ts were o f course packed to burs ting poin t wi th as man y people again dancing ou tside. A t the top o f the park was the fabulous circus ten t tha t was Re venge. Comple te wi th traditional drag hos tesses and cabare t galore this was the place where you could find the bigges t mi x o f ages, se xes, families and lo vers. In be t ween the cabare t the sound o f thousands o f voices singing in unison to classic pop songs, arms wa ving in the air besides flags o f rainbo w colours. This was the spiri t o f ga y pride, the spiri t o f Brigh ton Pride 2008. I f you were there you will kno w wha t I mean, i f you missed i t then be there ne x t year. A s I wandered home, 12 hours la ter, e xhaus ted bu t ver y happ y I could s till hear the sounds o f whis tles on the wind and smiled as I though t o f the all the happ y people I had me t this da y.

Organisers o f the third Leeds Pride are hailing it as a grea t success. True to the e ven t’s theme o f heroes, e ven the changeable wea ther could no t pre ven t o ver si x and a hal f thousand people tak ing par t in the fan tas tic cit y cen tre parade wi th thousands more look ing on and an es tima ted 12,000 joining the s tree t par t y in Lo wer Brigga te.Be fore the parade began Leeds Millennium Square pla yed hos t to a main s tage pack ed wi th a di verse range o f ac ts from choirs to rappers, chees y pop to Ind y Punk , and drag ac ts. To be hones t there where some ac ts tha t transcended an y k no wn musical ca tegor y bu t the y all ga ve their ear thl y bes t and there was a li t tle bit for e ver yone and a lo t for mos t. Tom Do yle, Chair o f Leeds LGB T Pride planning group said, ‘ The turn ou t this year was amazing, it’s the firs t time we ha ve spli t the e ven t in this wa y and it work ed reall y well. I’d lik e to thank e ver yone who took par t this year; i t was an absolu tel y fan tas tic da y and I k no w tha t i t made all the hard work b y the Pride volun teers seem wor th i t’. No t onl y was the parade and par t y brillian t, the Spor ts Da y and Film sho w also pro ved to be massive hits wi th folk .Some o f us are abou t to tak e a wellearned res t whils t o ther members are alread y bus y planning Leeds Win ter Pride which will tak e place in Februar y to coincide wi th LGB T his tor y mon th.Leeds Pride Summer 2009 is scheduled 2nd A ugus t.

Put it i n you r d i a r ie s.

Heroic Pride

Pho tos: Mark Ha wk ins

Category:	Magazines/Newspapers
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Upload Date:	12/13/2009
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