Lambeth Council invited community leaders, LGBTQ+ activists, and stakeholders to discuss ‘Bringing Pride Home’ and plan the area’s first LGBTQ+ Pride celebration for summer 2025.
The meeting follows on from Lambeth officially marching at Pride in London for the second year, and from the Leader’s Pride reception, which this year took place in the Assembly Hall, once associated with the Gay Liberation Front as part of their Tea Dance and Disco fundraisers.
At the Pride reception, the council pledged again to explore bringing Pride ‘home’ to Lambeth, supporting the LGBTQ+ community to host our own 2025 celebration.
Cllrs Fred Cowell and Nanda Manley-Browne, Lambeth’s joint Cabinet Members for Equalities, Governance and Change, said: “We call it ‘Bringing Pride Home’ because the borough is home to the highest population of LGBTQ+ people in London, and the second highest in the UK.
“In the last decade, prides have appeared in many London boroughs to focus on celebrating local communities as well as the London-wide march and festival.
“It’s essential that a Lambeth Pride should be led by the community and that ‘what it looks like’ will be driven by them and supported by Lambeth Council.”
Lambeth is no stranger to Pride. Jason Jones, human rights defender, said: “I have lived in Lambeth since 1985 and remember clearly the Pride marches back then ending with a big celebration in Kennington Park.
“Lambeth has been the spiritual home of London Pride for over four decades and is now home to the second largest LGBTQ+ population in Britain. It’s time for #PrideInLambeth to come home!”