Ted Brown

Pride in London is celebrating five decades of annual marches and festivities to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

The Central London parade returns, on Saturday, after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

About 2,000 people joined The First UK Gay Pride Rally, in London, on 1 July 1972, the nearest Saturday to the third anniversary of the Stonewall Riots against a police raid at a gay bar in Manhattan.

Now, More Than one million celebrate Pride in the UK's Capital - and there are events all over The World .

Bishopsgate Institute 's Special Collections and Archives holds one of The Most in the UK, including:

Manager Stef Dickers Told Bbc News : " Recording and archiving LGBTQ+ history is vital to inform, inspire and empower Future Generations about their own history.

" We have missing voices from LGBTQ+ people in the historical narrative, due to the struggles and oppression the community has faced over the decades.

" It is so important that our histories are recorded now to celebrate how far we have come in visibility and hard-won freedoms But also to warn and arm the community for any future struggles. "

On The First march, Ted Brown - pictured above (left) with campaigner Peter Tatchell (right) - Told Bbc News , " there were men kissing men, men kissing what looked like men in drag and there were women kissing women and women kissing men in drag and Vice Versa .

" It was a declaration of freedom, declaration of rights, " He Said .

" We did that in front of The Police , almost as a challenge.

" Fortunately, nobody got arrested. "

Gay Pride Week, in 1976, saw a picnic in Victoria Gardens , by the Houses of Parliament.

Many of the images have never been publicly displayed.

" These kind of photo archives don't exist elsewhere in this size and scope, " Mr Dickers said.

" Photo agencies hold images of Prides taken by press Photographers - But these archives are Photographers from the LGBTQ+ community photographing the community.

" This is powerful. "

Section 28 of The Local Government Act 1988, which meant schoolteachers were not allowed to " promote" gay relationships, was repealed in 2003.

The 1981 Pride march was moved to Huddersfield, in support of the Gemini Club , which police had called " a cesspit of filth".

In 1983, The March was renamed Lesbian and Gay Pride.

In 2017, Mr Tatchell Told The Bbc 's Newsround: " We have made fantastic Progress .

" Compared to two decades ago, Britain is almost a different country.

" All the main anti-gay laws have been abolished.

" We Are now one of The Best countries in The World for gay equality. "

Today, it is illegal to discriminate against somebody because of their sexuality or Gender - although, many gay people face discrimination in their daily lives.

" There is big Progress - But more needs to be done, " Mr Tatchell said.

" Public attitudes are much more supportive - although, there are still families who reject their gay children.

" We still have too much homophobic Hate Crime , many kids are still bullied and a lot of schools don't have an anti-bullying programme that specifically addresses anti-gay issues.

" We want to get to a situation where no-one cares what sexuality you are, where we accept the person and their right To Love whoever they Wish - Male , female, both or neither. "

Drag queen Lily Savage (Paul O'Grady, above centre) attended Pride in 1992.

" New additions to our archive arrive almost daily and we would recommend anyone to get In Touch who wants to record and document their own LGBTQ+ history, " Mr Dickers said.

" As this year is such an important milestone, we hope people will share images of what Pride means to them, through our.

" This could be attending the official Pride festivities But also other moments of joy and celebration that make them feel proud to be who they are.

" It's also not limited to London and we'd be delighted for people to contribute from all over the UK. "

All pictures are subject to Copyright .

Source of news: bbc.com