"Mayor Boris Johnson should provide an emergency bridging loan,
to tide World Pride over its cash-flow problems. The money, around
£65,000, will be repayable once the event is over and all receipts
are in.
"The Mayor has a duty to save World Pride and, by so doing,
London's reputation. If the event goes belly-up it will be a huge
embarrassment to London, just three weeks before the Olympics,"
said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who helped organise
Britain's first Gay Pride parade, held in London 40 years ago, in
July 1972. He is Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
"I urge the mayor, police and Westminster council to re-open
negotiations with the World Pride organisers to allow the scheduled
events to take place as previously agreed, for the sake of the
million-plus people expected to participate and to avoid widespread
disruption across central London."
Mr Tatchell was commenting on the announcement by the organisers
that the World Pride events in London on Saturday 7 July will be
massively scaled back.
"The Mayor and Metropolitan Police should insist that the parade
start-time is reinstated as 1pm. The sudden decision last week to
bring it forward to 11am is a recipe for chaos and confusion,"
added Mr Tatchell.
"The change in the parade start time is a huge gamble by the
mayor, police and Westminster council. The scheduled orderly parade
could well descend into mayhem, with the much of central London
becoming gridlocked for hours with vast confused crowds of lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
"At this late stage, it will not be possible to alert everyone who
is planning to attend. Many people are arriving in London on
pre-booked trains, planes and coaches, based on a previously
advertised kick-off time of 1pm. They will arrive at the
start-point long after the parade has departed. Many will be left
wandering the streets, not knowing where to go.
"Instead of an orderly three-hour march, as was previously
planned, the tens of the thousands of people arriving late and
trying to find the tail-end of the march are likely to bring West
End traffic to standstill all afternoon on 7 July.
"It is urgent to reinstate floats, buses and cars in the parade,
to allow elderly and disabled LGBT people to participate. Otherwise
they won't be able to attend. The last-minute axing of motorised
vehicles is against the spirit of legislation intended to protect
disabled and elderly people against exclusion and
discrimination.
Regardless of these problems Pride London World Pride 2012 will
go ahead next weekend with a procession and a celebration in
Trafalgar Square, the Mayor Boris Johnson confirmed on
Friday.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who has provided funding
of £100,000 said: "Pride is a fantastic and vital event in London's
calendar, which we are proud to sponsor. We have worked hard with
the organisers and other agencies and I'm delighted that it will be
going ahead. We will continue to work with the Pride organisers,
the Met Police and Westminster Council to ensure a safe and
successful event for all."
"Without the floats and parties, it will revert to its roots - a
protest march for LGBT human rights worldwide. The World Pride
slogan is: 'Decriminalise homosexuality worldwide - Global equality
for LGBT people.' This is entirely appropriate, as July is the 40th
anniversary of the UK's first-ever Gay Pride parade, which took
place in London on 1 July 1972.
"The sudden, drastic curtailment of the World Pride parade, rally
and street party is a huge blow to London and its gay community.
The promised gigantic extravaganza now risks being a huge flop.
Visitors from all over Britain and the world face disappointment.
It will do great damage to London's reputation in the run-up to the
Olympics
"This year is the first time that London has hosted World Pride,
which brings together lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
people from all over the world to participate in a parade, rally
and human rights conference.
"It is hosted and organised by Pride London: pridelondon.org
"London police and municipal authorities accuse the World Pride
organisers of unpaid debts and failing to advance the necessary
funds to cover this year's events. The World Pride organisers
dispute last year's debts and assert that the funds required would
have been raised eventually, to allow this year's festivities to
proceed largely as planned. The veracity of claim and counter-claim
is, at this stage, impossible to ascertain.
"Banning floats in the parade is a big blow to the many LGBT
charities that have spent thousands of pounds on hiring and
decorating them. They will lose a major opportunity to raise their
profile, publicise their work and secure donation pledges.
"The shortening of the post-parade rally in Trafalgar Square will
force organisers to drop booked entertainers and human rights
speakers. The main street party in Soho has been cancelled. These
ill-advised decisions are likely to result in hundreds of thousands
of people milling aimlessly around the West End. It is a recipe for
confusion and disruption.
"The actions of the authorities will turn what would have been a
positive event for London into a PR disaster. Vast numbers of
people will feel let down and angry," said Mr Tatchell.
