Is Pride still relevant?
The first time I heard there was such a thing as ‘Gay Pride’ was way back in 1984, when I lived in Norwich. The only gay bar was hidden away above a straight pub, and the gay club, The Caribbean, was discretely situated round the back alley, above a chip shop and only open three nights a week.
This was when it was illegal to have gay sex unless you were over 21 and then there was a new disease that was affecting the gay community, but no one really wanted to talk about that. So the idea that there was a Gay Pride March through London, with a mass gathering in the park, sounded like paradise.