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pride parade
'Pinkwashing': Just Stop Oil Blocks London Pride Parade in Sponsorship Protest
'These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries'
Jul 01, 2023
Just Stop Oil protesters temporarily blocked London’s Pride Parade Saturday afternoon to protest the event accepting sponsorship money from “high-polluting industries.”
Pride faced accusations of “pinkwashing” over its decision to make United Airlines the headline sponsor of this year’s event.
Seven protesters were arrested at 1:30 pm after blocking the road in front of a Coca-Cola truck. Coca-Cola is seen as the world's biggest plastic polluter.
LGBTQ+ members of Just Stop Oil called on organizers to condemn new oil, gas, and coal licenses and stop allowing the inclusion of floats from these corporations in the parade.
James Skeet, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson, said in a statement:
“Pride was born from protest. It speaks to how far we’ve come as a community, that high-polluting industries and the banks that fund them, now see Pride as a useful vehicle for sanitizing their reputations, waving rainbow flags in one hand whilst accelerating social collapse with the other. It is queer people, and particularly queer people of color in the global south, who are suffering first in this accelerating social breakdown. What would those who instigated the gay liberation movement during the Stonewall riots in 1969, make of the corporatized spectacle Pride has now become?"
“These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community, at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries. We call on Pride to remember the spirit in which it was founded and to respect the memory of all those who fought and died to secure the rights we now possess whilst taking the necessary steps to protect our community long into the future.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan speaking before the parade said:
“I agree with protesting in a way that is lawful, safe, and peaceful. I think that Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are really important pressure groups trying to put power on those who have power and influence."
“I fully support the right to protest. It’s really important to recognize the joy of democracy is protest."
“I am somebody who feels quite passionately that we have to tackle the climate emergency. And I feel quite passionately about encouraging people to join the movement to tackle the climate emergency. In my view, protest should be peaceful, lawful, and safe.”
Peter Tatchell, the legendary LGBTQ+ rights campaigner, and prominent member of the Gay Liberation Front and the civil resistance group OutRage! Said:
“I helped organize the first Pride in the UK in 1972 and have attended every Pride London march since then. Pride was always meant to be both a celebration and a protest. From the outset, we stood in solidarity with other struggles for freedom and social justice, against corporate pinkwashing and all forms of exploitation. We saw queer liberation as just one aspect of a wider liberation movement.”
“Climate destruction is destroying communities, jobs, homes and lives across the world, especially in poorer countries. Fossil fuels are endangering the survival of humanity – including LGBTQ+ people. Our community must not collude with environment, species and climate destroying companies.”
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'A Hate Crime': Oslo Pride Parade Canceled After Deadly Shooting at Gay Bar
A 42-year-old gunman has been charged with terrorism following what Norway's prime minister called a "terrible and deeply shocking attack on innocent people."
Jun 25, 2022
A 42-year-old gunman was arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder, and terrorist acts on Saturday after he killed two people and injured 21 during an overnight shooting rampage in and around an Oslo gay bar--just hours before the city was supposed to hold its annual Pride parade.
"My first thought was that Pride was the target, so that's frightening."
"There is reason to think that this may be a hate crime," Norwegian police said. "We are investigating whether... Pride was a target in itself or whether there are other motives."
In the wake of what Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called a "terrible and deeply shocking attack on innocent people," Oslo's annual Pride celebration was canceled based on police advice.
"We will soon be proud and visible again, but today, we will share our Pride celebrations from home," Inger Kristin Haugsevje, leader of Oslo Pride, and Inge Alexander Gjestvang, leader of the Norwegian Organization for Sexual and Gender Diversity, said in a statement.
As Reuters reported, "The attack took place in the early hours of Saturday, with victims shot inside and outside the London Pub, a longstanding hub of Oslo's LGBTQ scene, as well as in the surrounding streets and at one other bar in the center of the Norwegian capital."
Bili Blum-Jansen, who was inside the London Pub at the time, sought refuge in the basement, hiding there alongside 80 to 100 other people.
"Many called their partners and family, it felt almost as if they were saying goodbye," he told Norway's TV2. "Others helped calm down those who were extremely terrified."
"I had a bit of panic and thought that if the shooter or shooters were to arrive, we'd all be dead," he added. "There was no way out."
Marcus Nybakken, who had left the London Pub shortly before gunfire erupted and returned later to help, recounted the horrific shooting and its aftermath.
"Many people were crying and screaming, the injured were screaming, people were distressed and scared--very, very scared," Nybakken said. "My first thought was that Pride was the target, so that's frightening."
Although the city's Pride parade was canceled as a result of the attack, Reuters reported that "several thousand people began what appeared to be a spontaneous march in central Oslo, waving rainbow flags and chanting in English: 'We're here, we're queer, we won't disappear.'"
The suspect was detained minutes after the shooting began, according to police who said they believe he acted alone. Two weapons, one of them a fully automatic gun, were retrieved from the crime scene, they added.
National security authorities raised Norway's terrorism threat assessment to its highest level following the attack.
Norway's law enforcement officials, who are not usually armed, will carry guns until further notice, national police chief Benedicte Bjoernland announced.
Norway has lower crime rates than many of its high-income peers. However, this is not the first hate-motivated mass shooting in the Scandinavian nation of 5.4 million. The deadliest occurred in 2011, when far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 people.
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Thousands Join Budapest Pride Parade to Protest Attacks on LGBTQ+ Hungarians
"A lot has happened over the last few years, and it's time to show that we're not okay with it," said one of the organizers.
Jul 24, 2021
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets Saturday for Budapest's annual Pride parade to protest the Hungarian government's recent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, including a recently adopted law that aims to limit the discussion of homosexuality and transgender issues in schools.
"A lot of LGBTQ people are afraid and don't feel like they have a place or a future in this country anymore," Budapest Pride spokesperson Jojo Majercsik told The Associated Press.
That sentiment was shared by Mira Nagy, a 16-year-old Pride attendee who told the AP that "this year is much more significant, because now there are real stakes."
"Our situation is pretty bad," she said. "My plan is that if things get even worse, I will leave Hungary."
\u201c\u201cKids are raised straight, but some of them are born LGBTI, like me,\u201d said @renevanhell, the Dutch ambassador in Budapest.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s important for LGBTI children that they see positive role models... to become proud Hungarians,\u201d he said. https://t.co/HmC3MyV0IM\u201d— the Netherlands Embassy in Hungary (@the Netherlands Embassy in Hungary) 1627058102
Balint Rigo, a 27-year-old Pride organizer, told CNN that "a lot has happened over the last few years, and it's time to show that we're not okay with it."
"Minorities have been systematically attacked, and we're here to say enough," Rigo said, explaining that more attendees were expected this year because "people aren't just coming out for LGBTQ groups... they're coming out for minorities in general."
"There's power in numbers and we may not be able to change anything in the short term," he added, "but together we're a symbol of solidarity."
\u201cWHAT A DAY \u2764\ufe0f\ud83c\udf08\n\n30.000+ people in the streets in Budapest saying:\n\nWe are not an ideology.\nLove is love.\nAnd: Equality for all.\n\nBudapest pride was a full success in making clear:\n\nHungary is not Orb\u00e1n.\n\nThis gives so much hope for the future.\n\n\ud83d\udcf8 @CathrinKahlweit @Ricarda_Lang\u201d— Terry Reintke (@Terry Reintke) 1627151222
The new law from the ruling Fidesz party--supported by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban--bans presenting materials that are considered to promote gender reassignment and homosexuality to people under the age of 18 and calls for creating a list of organizations allowed to provide sexual education programs in schools.
Andras Kadar, co-chair of the Budapest-based rights watchdog Hungarian Helsinki Committee, told Politico in June that "the provisions banning the 'promotion or display of homosexuality' fit into the trend of hate-mongering policies this governing majority has adopted over the past years against various social groups."
"Provisions like these should not be adopted or implemented," he added. "They are harmful, shameful, and violate fundamental rights."
Politico noted that "the move comes after Hungary last year approved measures effectively barring same-sex couples from adopting children and preventing transgender individuals from legally changing their genders."
\u201cBudapest Pride Parade right now #Hungary\u201d— Lili Bayer (@Lili Bayer) 1627137424
Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced legal action against Hungary--and Poland--for "violations of fundamental rights of LGBTIQ people."
"On Hungary," the statement said, "the cases include the recently adopted law, which in particular prohibits or limits access to content that promotes or portrays the so-called 'divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change, or homosexuality' for individuals under 18; and a disclaimer imposed on a children's book with LGBTIQ content."
Orban responded by proposing a referendum on the new law, claiming that "in the past weeks, Brussels has clearly attacked Hungary over its child protection law. Hungarian laws do not permit sexual propaganda in kindergartens, schools, on television, and in advertisements."
\u201cThere were too many people around for me to post this video of the start of Budapest Pride, which organizers say is the biggest in its 26-year history.\u201d— Valerie Hopkins (@Valerie Hopkins) 1627143951
Critics of the law have pushed back against such claims from the prime minister that the LGBTQ+ provisions are about child protection and have accused the Fidesz-Christian Democrat government--which faces a tough election next year--of trying to appeal to right-wing voters.
"The law is an outrage," Istvan, a 27-year-old who marched with his boyfriend, told Reuters on Saturday. "We live in the 21st century, when things like that should not be happening. We are no longer in communist times, this is the E.U. and everyone should be able to live freely."
Zoltan Adam, an associate professor of economics at Corvinus University of Budapest, delivered a broader critique of Hungary's government during the event.
"We are standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ community but we are also standing with anyone threatened by global authoritarian discourse," Adam told The New York Times. "This law is another step toward authoritarianism taken by this government."
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