{"id":674164,"date":"2026-07-04T23:06:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/674164\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T23:06:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T23:06:30","slug":"thousands-march-in-london-pride-parade-as-activists-warn-lgbtq-rights-under-threat-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/674164\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands march in London Pride parade as activists warn LGBTQ+ rights under threat"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thousands of activists marched through London<\/a> in the capital\u2019s LGBTQ+ Pride parade<\/a> as campaigners issued a stark warning about trans rights.<\/p>\n

Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan<\/a> was among those at the front of the Pride in London march on Saturday and led activists in a chant of \u201cHappy Pride\u201d as the parade began. <\/p>\n

More than 35,000 marchers from more than 600 groups took part in the procession from Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall Place via Piccadilly, with an audience of more than a million expected to flock to the capital<\/a> for celebrations. <\/p>\n

A number of artists, such as Beth Ditto and MNEK, were tipped to perform at the main stage in Trafalgar Square, with rumours that Madonna would also make an appearance<\/a> following the launch of her highly anticipated album, Confessions II, in London on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor Sir Sadiq Khan before the start of the Pride in London parade (PA Wire)<\/p>\n

However, organisers later confirmed that the 67-year-old pop star would not be attending. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn response to the rumours, we can confirm that Madonna will not be appearing or performing at Pride in London,\u201d organisers wrote in a post on social media. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have two fantastic headliners at Trafalgar Square to conclude a brilliant day of protest and celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is understood that there had been communication between organisers and Madonna but that she was never a confirmed attendee. <\/p>\n

\"MadonnaMadonna was rumoured to appear at the event before organisers confirmed she would not be (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Spectators cheered as floats full of people dancing and speakers pumping out music drove through central London, with many donning rainbow colours and carrying Pride flags and fans on a hot and sunny day in the city. <\/p>\n

Pride in London issued a warning beforehand to those attending to bring suncream and water with them as temperatures were forecast to peak at 28C.<\/p>\n

Some 650 police officers were deployed as the Met said before the event that there would be \u201cno tolerance of hate crime\u201d as a busy weekend of Pride celebrations takes place in the city.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s parade has focused heavily on four critical issues: trans healthcare rights, Black and Brown queer visibility, chosen family rights, and ending hate crime.<\/p>\n

It also marks the beginning of London\u2019s official bid to host WorldPride 2032.<\/p>\n

Gay rights activist Julian Hows, 70, said the Pride in London march was important with \u201crights being taken away from trans people\u201d in the UK.<\/p>\n

\"MadonnaMadonna is rumoured to make an appearance on the main stage (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Speaking at the front of the parade, Mr Hows, who was expelled from school for early gay rights activism in 1971, said: \u201cPride is important every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been coming to Pride marches since 1972 when the policemen outnumbered the marchers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Hows, wearing a rainbow-coloured waistcoat with \u201cAbseil Against Section 28\u201d, and Gay Liberation Front pins, said: \u201cPride is also important because it needs to have an underlying level of protest, and you can see the freedoms that we have can so easily be taken away.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also always need to push further because there\u2019s always somewhere where our rights are being taken away \u2013 whether it\u2019s in this country with Reform, whether it\u2019s this country with rights being taken away from trans people, whether it\u2019s abroad in other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ActivistsActivists warned Pride was particularly important this year (Getty)<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Pride in London said: \u201cThe urgency is clear: NHS gender-affirming care waiting lists now exceed four years in some regions, while a comprehensive trans-inclusive ban on conversion therapy remains uncodified into law despite a 2018 government pledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, the community infrastructure LGBTQ+ people rely on is shrinking \u2013 since 2006, 58 per cent of London\u2019s LGBTQ+ venues have closed.<\/p>\n

\"\u2018The\u2018The Independent\u2019 joined in the march as part of our partnership with Pride in London (Supplied)<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, these gaps in care, protection and safe spaces are unfolding amid continued hostility, with Home Office figures showing that more than 18,000 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were reported to police in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of our campaign championing people in Pride Month<\/a>, The Independent marched among the parade in partnership with Pride in London<\/a> and launched our iconic Pride List<\/a> for 2026, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community\u2019s biggest trailblazers.<\/p>\n

Companies that sponsored floats at the parade included Lidl, Tesco and Ikea, with the Swedish furniture brand\u2019s float carrying the message: \u201cLove doesn\u2019t require instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n

London-based football teams including Arsenal, West Ham and Crystal Palace also had floats in the parade.<\/p>\n

\"ThousandsThousands lined the streets for the parade (Reuters)<\/p>\n

Activist Peter Tatchell<\/a> said Fifa was \u201cdoing nothing\u201d about 11 countries banning gay footballers at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the march, Mr Tatchell said: \u201cWe\u2019re marching in London Pride today to highlight the fact that at the World Cup, which is ongoing right now, 11 countries ban gay footballers from their team \u2013 that\u2019s against Fifa rules, but Fifa is doing nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Australian-born campaigner added: \u201cThis year\u2019s Pride is as important as ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticularly now that Reform councils across the country are banning Pride flags \u2026 wanting to remove books from shelves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is very dangerous, very threatening to all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pride in London interim chief executive Rebecca Paisis said: \u201cWe want 2026 to be the most inclusive Pride in London event yet.<\/p>\n

\"PridePride in London\u2019s interim boss said: \u2018We want 2026 to be the most inclusive Pride in London event yet\u2019 (Reuters)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur movement has always been built on many voices becoming one united front \u2013 from the people who marched in 1972 to those joining us for the first time this year. That\u2019s where our power lies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs LGBTQ+ people, we\u2019ve never been strangers to adversity, but neither are we strangers to collective action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s campaign is a reminder that whilst the community often faces challenges in isolation, it is by coming together that we can change history.\u201d<\/p>\n

Co-founder of Stonewall and LGBTQ+ activist Lisa Power said: \u201cAdversity is meant to shatter us but it can make us stronger as it did in the Eighties.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we have a government and institutions meant to defend our rights that are attacking trans people\u2019s rights, and the rest of ours will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":674111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,187211,192,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-674164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-general-society","tag-human-interest","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/674111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}