After The Fumble Court Likely to Decide on Gay Marriage in NJ

Six years after Massachusetts passed a historic marriage equality law, 18 months after the same was defeated in New Jersey and just over a week following New York's becoming the sixth state to allow same-sex marriage, Garden State gay rights advocates think victory is on the horizon.

It comes not as a bill in the Legislature, the way New York did it, but through the courts. Garden State Equality, represented by Lambda Legal, filed a lawsuit on behalf of seven same-sex couples and their children in state Superior Court maintaining the state's civil union laws do not guarantee the same rights for same-sex couples as enjoyed by heterosexual couples. They've been down that road before.

In 2006, in a case that had been filed in 2002, the state Supreme Court ruled same-sex couples should be afforded equal rights. Then it passed the ball to the Legislature to make it so. It was a 4-3 vote with the minority saying the state should allow same-sex marriage.

The Legislature went with the less controversial civil unions, which may look like the same legal rights on paper but Haley Gorenberg, Lambda Legal deputy legal director, said it isn't so. "Our clients have been kept from each other during medical crises, denied health insurance, and even discriminated against in funeral homes because their civil unions relegate them to second-class status," she said.

New Jersey had a chance to pass same-sex marriage in January 2010. But the Senate voted it down, 14 in favor, 20 against with 21 "yes" votes needed for passage as former Gov. Jon Corzine's administration neared its end. Corzine had said he would sign it. Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, did not vote. Recently, Sweeney said it was one of the biggest mistakes of his career. He now sees it as a civil rights issue.

In the Assembly, no vote was taken. The official excuse from then-Speaker Joe Roberts was that it wouldn't pass, so why vote? That hadn't stopped votes on other issues in doubt. It was more likely a way to protect members from going on the record since the gay community usually supports Democrats.

Opponents say it shouldn't be decide by judges, it should be decided by a referendum. Advocates point out in 1915 New Jersey voters in a referendum denied women the right to vote.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, D-Mercer, introduced a same-sex marriage bill last month, but there is no companion effort in the Senate. Even if it got through the Legislature, it is highly unlikely it would become law. On NBC's "Meet The Press" last week, Gov. Chris Christie said, "I am not a fan of same-sex marriage. It's not something that I support."

Polls show the younger you are the less it matters. Generally, people under 40 just don't see what the fuss is about. But it's the older people who vote in larger numbers and donate money to politicians, and that's why marriage equality probably will come to New Jersey via the court that already said things are not equal and need to change. Incidentally, the Supreme Court won't have the same makeup by the time this case makes it back, five of the seven justices hearing the first case will have been replaced.

The writer is senior political columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers. His column appears every Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached via e-mail at bobingle@app.com and heard on New Jersey 101.5 FM radio at 5 p.m. Fridays.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/

OUT LOUD / Punk-turned-disco outfit offers entire album free

Scott Dagostino

When he returns to Toronto to perform at the July 3 Vazaleen party at Wrongbar, 30-year-old
Kentucky-born artist/musician Cody Critcheloe won’t have as far to travel.

The frontman for queer punk-disco outfit Ssion (as in “passion”) has leaped from DJing in
 New York City to moving there for good.

“I sold all of my possessions in Kansas City and moved here with one suitcase,” he says.
 He now lives the dream of many a Midwest artist, but he quickly adds, “I’m not delusional
... I’ve spent enough time here to know what I’ll have to do to stay afloat. I definitely
 don’t live a life of luxury, but I consider being an artist full-time pretty awesome.”

When it comes to making his finances work, it probably won’t help that he’s giving
away his latest album free.

Bent will be available to download from the Ssion website starting June 28.

The last album “sold okay” on iTunes, Critcheloe says, “even though it’s all over the
 internet... so with this one, we’ll give it away for free for a month. It seemed like a
punk thing to do,” he laughs.

Ssion has a solid discography of punk songs, notably the raucous “Day Job” but went
 disco with the previous album, Fool’s Gold, in 2008.

“It’s the same thing,” Critcheloe shrugs. “It’s three chords and a hook, you know?
The only real difference is the production on it. Even though it’s a pop-disco record,
 the attitude and the aesthetic is still very punk rock, still very do-it-yourself.”

But while Critcheloe insists that Ssion’s sound “morphs and changes depending on what kind of music I want to make and what kind of visuals I want to go with it,” he
 admits that it wasn’t completely a coincidence when the critics at Pitchfork compared
 Fool’s Gold to the Scissor Sisters.

“I had sort of detached myself from dance music and
 gay culture in general,” Critcheloe says. “I didn’t feel
like I belonged. I feel like it’s a rite of passage in a
 weird way, that if you’re thinking at all outside the
box, you go through that phase where you’re like,
‘Well, I’m gay, but I’m not like that.’ But there came
a point at which I realized I was denying myself the
right to like what I want. The best thing about being
gay — the most empowering thing — is that you can
 do whatever you want, like whatever you want.”

Critcheloe laughs as he throws aside his street cred:
“If I like a Kelly Clarkson song, I should fucking like
 it! Who gives a shit? Just like it!”

Making Fool’s Gold, Critcheloe says, “was really a liberating experience for me, and
 [the song “Clown”] in particular really echoes that sentiment.” If you’re going to make any
 kind of music or any art, he insists, “you have to embrace who you are, your flaws,
all of that shit. I’m not Glenn Danzig; I’m not Kylie Minogue. I’m not going to make
 music in that vein. It’s not my experience.”

Critcheloe gets the occasional comparison to Prince — there’s a drizzle of purple rain
in his vocals — but says his biggest influence is Courtney Love, “a really iconic female
 figure in pop with the aggression of punk rock.” He also cites Sonic Youth, Pet Shop
Boys, Patti Smith and Deee-Lite as huge influences. But, he says, in music as in life,
 “I feel like it’s impossible to categorize people, unless they want to be categorized.”

Anyone coming to see Ssion play will know, he says, that “anything is possible,
depending on what I want to make.”

SSION
Vazaleen
Sun, July 3, 10pm
Wrongbar, 1279 Queen St W

http://www.xtra.ca/

Darren Hayes, Talks & Talks on Talk, Talk, Talk

Written by: Gerard 

the midst of his Australian promotional tour, singer-songwriter and all-round musical connoisseur Darren Hayes found a few minutes to answer some of our questions regarding his new single, Talk,Talk, Talk and the launch of his fourth solo studio album.

Hayes is evidently quite proud of his new single. ‘It’s just a great introduction to a new era and a new sound. I think it’s probably the most instant song on the record and a great beginning but I think the album in general has many more layers. It’s a cinematic sound and has pretty heavy lyrics, and the fact that this single in particular is wrapped up in Swedish synth pop is a little misleading really. But I love that – because it brings you in’.

 When I suggest that Hayes’ last album was ‘quite dark’ he is keen to set the record straight. ‘I think my last album was naive, euphoric and magical actually. My album The Tension and the Spark – now THAT was dark. This new record is a combination of the two really. It’s a collection of songs about how hard it is to stay together in a world where it feels like everyone is breaking up. It’s hopeful and it’s colourful but it’s also really heavy at times. I’m insanely proud of it because it’s taken four years of blood, sweat and tears.’

For his new album Hayes teamed up with Carl Falk, the Swedish composer, producer, songwriter and musician who has been linked to numerous successful acts including Boyzone, Backstreet Boys, Nicole Scherzinger and Westlife. ‘I’ve also collaborated on this album with some other very successful people too,’ Hayes adds, ‘including Robert Orton, who mixed the Lady GaGa ‘Monster’ album, for example, and Steve Robson who’s also worked with Take That. There are also new names like Justin Shave and Robert Conley, writers and producers form Australia who are becoming even more well known. I have never been a name dropper and I don’t necessarily care what someone has done when I’m writing with them. At the end of the day it’s about the songs. I think they’re really sincere and heartfelt and that’s what shines through’.

Darren Hayes – Talk, Talk, Talk

Hayes’ Time Machine tour, for those that saw it, was an incredible theatrical feast. Hayes promises something special for this tour too. ‘I worked with tour director and show designer Willie Williams (U2) on the Time Machine – in fact all my tours, actually. So you can expect something unique for sure. It won’t be the same scale. I want to start off smaller this time round with some dates in the UK and Australia in October and November, and then expand the tour to something larger for 2012’.

Having fought to maintain a place in the ever-changing music industry has taught Hayes a great deal about himself and his music. He acknowledges that over the last eighteen years he has had to compete with reality TV shows and MTV, who seem to be launching new artists at an incredible pace. ‘I think it’s important to have your own stance and feel confident in your sound without trying to keep up,’ he says. ‘Being relevant is about surviving trends. In some periods of my career I’ve been played on the radio non-stop; other times I’ve had barely any mention. I’ve always maintained a steady course and stayed true. That’s what being a career artist is about for me’.

In June 2006 Hayes married his long-term partner Richard Cullen in London, and the following day came out to his fans via his website. Hayes feels the gay community has been particularly supportive since he opened up to his fans and the world. ‘I’ve had nothing but overwhelming support. I think I am lucky that I got to come to terms with who I was in my private life before announcing it to the world. I found my soul mate and I was happy to let the world in. It’s all beautiful.’

Originally from Brisbane, in the north of Australia, Hayes has lived in London for the last seven years. Despite feeling ‘at home’ here in London, he does still miss his native homeland. ‘I miss Australia a lot – mostly my family. Luckily we travel home a lot and my partner loves Brisbane. England was never in my plans. It, along with love and marriage, happened upon me and I have just gone with the flow. I like to think I live between two amazing countries and I’m lucky I have a job that lets me travel so much between them’.

Darren Hayes’ new single Talk, Talk, Talk is available now via iTunes.

http://sosogay.org/

Religion Strikes Back At Brazil's Gay Progressive Advances

Brazil's gay pride parade in São Paulo. 

Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters
guardian.co.uk

Vincent Bevins

Despite a little sub-tropical rain, the world's largest gay pride parade, in São Paulo, went off spectacularly. It received broad public support, and no less a figure than Stephen Fry joined a colourful group of revellers who have much to celebrate. The supreme court had just officially recognised the rights of same-sex unions to the privileges held by heterosexual couples, and another judge soon after signed off on the country's first full-fledged gay marriage.

One aspect of the celebrations, however, ignited controversy. The city's main avenue was decorated with posters, designed by an HIV prevention group, that featured 12 barely clothed male models, styled as Catholic saints, but with come-hither looks and the caption: "Not even a saint can save you. Use a condom." The group says the aim was education, but it was hard not to see the campaign as an intentionally provocative shot at the religious right in the increasingly tense confrontation between the two groups.

The church itself, of course, publicly registered offence at the images, but the real new conservative player on the scene is the evangelical Christian movement, a rising political force that is mounting an increasingly threatening assault on the gay rights movement and moving sexual issues closer to the centre of Brazilian politics. That group had conspicuously organised a massive "March for Jesus" just days before the gay pride march, and didn't waste much time getting around to railing against gay marriage. In this traditionally Catholic country, more and more are becoming evangelical Christians – now likely more than 20% of the population – and are more eager to make their version of Christianity a political issue.

Despite the persistence of persecution, official mainstream Brazilian society is relatively accepting of gay culture. Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had as a personal spiritual adviser the gay-friendly liberation theologist Frei Betto, and the de facto rights of same-sex civil unions have been recognised in Brazil since 2004. The church opposes gay marriage but makes less of a fuss about the legality of civil unions, and the government of new president Dilma Rousseff has made an end to discrimination a priority.

But when Dilma faced her first political crisis earlier this year, as acorruption scandal brought down her chief of staff, Antonio Palocci, she was outmanoeuvred by a political force that would be familiar in the US but is new here in Brazil: the "evangelical bloc" in Congress. It used her moment of weakness to kill an anti-homophobia bill she favoured that had long been in the works. It's now dead in the water until they can come up with one the evangelical bloc likes. "It's certainly possible to read those posters in the parade as an aggressive reaction to the evangelical movement or at least to their idea of Christianity," saysGuilherme Altmayer, an artist active in the gay rights movement. "But there is a clear war now, which has been escalating, and the latest homophobic movements in Congress have been far too radical."

It's not entirely clear that provoking the religious community by creating signs that effectively invite the viewer to have gay sex – albeit protected – with a saint is the most effective strategy for advancing the cause of the gay community. They may be just as likely to offend middle-of-the-road Brazilians, nominally Catholic but usually not church-going and usually fairly liberal on the issue of others' sexuality.

But in the largest of the former Iberian colonies, which way society moves is not being decided on the steps of Mother Church. It is being played out on the streets, in Congress, and increasingly in evangelical congregations more reminiscent of the American south.

My Father's Closet

Written by gina

At only 11, Billy's   perfect picture life unraveled and he finally thought that perhaps he would discover why his father left. “Is it another woman?” he asked, in a peculiar way the mother responded "no" laughingly I uttered “another man?” and there was silence and still after 10years, that silence still rings in my ears.

A silence that changed my life forever, broken only to a few friends and relatives for fear of what people might think. “After my parents separation”, he says “I started spending the weekends with my father at the city, he shared a condo with a young man just the same age as my mother.

To them, everything was normal but to me I felt anything but normal. Those weekends were nightmares for me. Not only was I forced to leave my mother and friends but was initiated to a culture I knew nothing about. We had gone from the Garden of Eden to Sodom and Gomorrah.

It would not sink in me that at the end of the day my father walked into the bedroom with a man I had met only weeks before and not my mother the way he used to. I was forced to endure this for a few months before my mother and I moved miles away from my father. Though it had made things easier for me and my mother and was no longer forced to face the truth and reality about my father's sexuality, I did not know why I felt so empty inside.

As difficult as it was to trust or love my father, I have always hoped and prayed for a closer relationship with him.

http://www.freedominspeech.org

This Soldiers Legacy, Much More Than Being Gay

                                                          Jeff Wilfahrt always reads a poem by William Wordsworth when 

he visits his son's grave.

By Wayne Drash, CNN

Andrew Wilfahrt changed his gait in the weeks before going off to basic training. He walked more upright. He bulked up with weights. He spoke with a deep Robocop voice. He acted "manly."

Through the eyes of his parents, Jeff and Lori, it was all a bit strange.

This was the boy who told them he was gay at 16 after being confronted with exorbitant bills from Internet chat rooms. Who lobbied for gay rights in his high school and escaped the fists of football players when hockey players came to his rescue. Who had the courage to wear pink and green even after his car was spray-painted with "Go Home Fag!"

All his parents ever wanted was for Andrew to be Andrew.

At 29, he sat his mom and dad down at the kitchen table and told them his life was missing camaraderie, brotherhood. "I'm joining the Army," he said.

The news surprised them. Why would Andrew enter the military, where he'd be forced to deny a part of who he is?

He was a lover of classical music, a composer, a peace activist, a math genius. He studied palindromes, maps, patterns, the U.S. Constitution, quantum physics.

A soldier?

It had never really crossed the minds of his left-leaning parents. Yet, just as they'd done with all three of their children, they supported him. It wasn't easy. It became dreadfully painful.

When their son wound up in Afghanistan in July 2010, Jeff awoke early each day to Google "Kandahar." He tracked every soldier killed in the far-off land.

Then, on February 27, 2011, at the same oak table where Andrew said he was joining up, the Wilfahrts learned their oldest child was gone.

"I want to talk directly to somebody in his platoon!" Jeff told the officer and chaplain seated across from him. He wanted to know for sure that this wasn't a behind-the-shed killing of the gay guy.

Cpl. Andrew Charles Wilfahrt, 31, is believed to be the first gay U.S. soldier to die in battle since President Obama signed the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the policy forcing gays in the military to hide that part of their lives or risk being kicked out.

He was also among the smartest in the half-million force, scoring a perfect score on his aptitude test, a feat the Army says is rare.

Andrew was so well-liked his comrades named a combat outpost for the soldier with the infectious smile. COP Wilfahrt sits 6 kilometers from Kandahar. To his buddies, it is not named for a gay soldier, but for one who fought with valor.

MY Mama's Big Fat Gay Wedding

• By: Helena Andrews 

• 
  

Thinkstock

When I get married (yeah, I said it -- "when," not "if"), my mother will be the one to walk me down the aisle. Because the other side of my DNA forfeited, as a single parent Frances wins the job by default. So if the image of two women strutting hand in hand down the gangplank of matrimony makes a grand statement supporting feminism and abolishing paternalistic ownership, it's entirely unintended. Sort of.

The only thing that truly bothers me about my remix of every little Huxtable fan's fantasy is that I might not be able to return the favor for my mom someday. See, Frances, my mother, is a woman who loves women -- in the biblical sense. She is gay -- an indelible fact that made our life together at once difficult and daring.

Frances is also single. She's never been married, despite having received more than a few requests from men who clearly weren't too quick on the uptake. I've never pictured my mother walking down the aisle in a white dress. (Or, in her case, a dashiki.) 

At first glance it seems an obvious omission. A woman dedicated so stringently to living her life on the fringe, no matter what folks might say about it, couldn't possibly want to participate in something as conformist as the institution of marriage. She's a semiretired hippie who still clings to "peace" as her regular sign-off.

To my mind, matrimony had to be the furthest thing from hers. As a kid (OK, and as an adult) dreaming up what my big day would look like, I took for granted the fact that as a heterosexual American taxpayer, I could, in fact, dream such things with the very real possibility of them coming true. My mother could not.

Last week the New York State Senate and Gov. Andrew Cuomo both signed off on the Marriage Equality Bill. In less than a month, gay and lesbian couples will have the civil right to marry whomever they so choose. As if on cue, the bill passed the night before New York City's 42nd annual Gay Pride celebration -- the parade that explodes in red, yellow and purple down 5th Avenue and Christopher Street in Greenwich Village each year to  commemorate the Stonewall riots of 1969.

I first heard of Stonewall last year when I saw a picture of my mother on Facebook in her favorite cutoff jean shorts and a ripped LGBT Pride T-shirt. I'm pretty sure she had a tambourine in her hand, which is vintage Frances. She likes to make noise and fancies herself a percussionist for the cause.

Marching down an Atlanta street during that city's Gay Pride festivities last summer, in the picture she's frozen mid-rallying cry. The caption underneath quoted the now-famous "gay cheer" led by Stonewallers who continued to protest police the day after the NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay club on Christopher Street: "We are the Stonewall girls, we wear our hair in curls ... "

This is what I learned about Stonewall: On Friday, June 27, 1969, homosexuality was illegal everywhere in the United States -- save Illinois. In New York, police regularly conducted raids at the Stonewall Inn, one of the oldest and largest gay clubs in the city. They'd arrest transvestites and generally harass the club's customers.

But on this day, something different happened when the cops showed up. It was the second raid that week, and Stonewall's patrons had had enough. As cops hauled transgender folks out of the club -- many of whom were people of color -- this time, they began fighting back. They hurled beer cans, bricks and bottles at the paddy wagon headed for the 6th Precinct. Protesters were beaten by police; many were arrested. It was the start of the modern gay-rights movement.

That piece of history wasn't in any American-history textbooks I read in school. My mother was just 18 when Stonewall happened. It had to have made a huge impact on her own journey to coming out as a lesbian. Stonewall was as significant to my mother's adolescence and burgeoning adulthood as Rosa Parks' arrest in 1956, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1968.

I felt as if I hadn't done my due diligence when it came to my mother's past. Our parents all have their secrets, the small moments that define them in big ways. Uncovering those gems lets us, their children, in on the mystery behind what makes Mom and Dad so cheap, so protective, so hilarious, so temporarily annoying, so them. Just reading my introductory paragraph about Stonewall made me realize at 30 that my mother marches down streets at 60 because she continues to dream.

Helena Andrews is a regular contributor to The Root and author of Bitch Is the New Black, a memoir in essay

http://www.theroot.com

Olbermann Says Michelle Bachmann Can't Keep her Hubbie in THE Closet

In this clip from Friday, Keith Olbermann has on Politico
reporter Ken Vogel to discuss the troubling anti-gay
statements of Michele Bachmann’s husband Marcus.
Marcus Bachmann runs an “ex-gay” therapy center,
a controversial type of therapy aimed at converting
 homosexuals into heterosexuals through Christ. Vogel
 suggests that perhaps Bachmann has been keeping
her husband out of the spotlight because of his history
 of bizarre statements about homosexuals, including
calling gays “barbarians” who need to be “disciplined”.

Keith seems to believe that these bizarre statements are
 going to be a liability for Bachmann’s political aspirations. It’s going to be
impossible, he says, for Rep. Bachmann to hide her husband during the
campaign and keep him (he asks us to forgive the expression) “in the closet”.

Watch this clip, embedded via Current TV

rawstory.com

pic by wikipedia

Straight Service Members Manipulate the System to get Honorable Dis Before DADT Ends

Defense Secretary Gates greets U.S. Air Force troops\Source: United States Air Force

Three U.S. Air Force members who recently identified themselves as gay have requested to be discharged in an effort to end their service obligation before the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is lifted.

The controversial policy, which has prohibited gays from serving openly in the military for the past 17 years, was overturned last December in what is considered by many to be a significant victory for the gay community. Despite the imminent dissolution of the gay ban, however, service members will retain the ability to submit a sexual orientation-based discharge request until DADT is officially dissolved later this year.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the discharge requests of two women have been approved by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, who has also accepted the resignation of an airman 1^st class. All three servicemembers cited sexual orientation as the reason for their separation.

An order issued last October by Defense Secretary Robert Gates requires explicit approval by the secretary of the members’ branch of service in order to be discharged under the gay ban.

Pentagon officials have reported that, having received only a minute number of discharge requests, they do not expect a widespread effort by gay service members to ‘jump ship’ before DADT ends. However, Alexander Nicholson, who serves as the Executive Director of the LGBT organization Servicemembers United, expressed his astonishment at what, in his opinion, appears to be evidence of armed forces members manipulating the system and attempting to evade their service obligations via “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Defense leaders have yet to announce a firm date for the new law to go into effect, as they must first take a number of steps to certify that it will have no adverse impact on the military. But so far, many military leaders are optimistic, stating that resistance to the policy change has been minimal.

Military and civilian leaders have already begun the painstaking process of preparing for the certification, to be lead by Gates’ impending successor Leon Panetta (who will be sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense on Friday).

Upon completion of the certification process, the repeal would take effect after a 60 day period.

Posted by LGBT Weekly

Adamfoxie* Salutes London Gay Pride 2011

 History: 

Pride London was founded in March 2004, and was granted charitable status in July of that year. 

In its first year, Pride London attracted a little over 30,000 people to central London for a parade and campaign rally in Trafalgar Square. From this small beginning, Pride London has grown at a staggering rate into becoming one of the United Kingdom’s largest events, and the largest LGBT event that the United Kingdom has ever seen.

In 2005, Pride London expanded the event a cabaret stage in Leicester Square, and added more entertainment to the main stage on Trafalgar Square. The event increased in size, and attracted around 100,000 people.

In 2006, Pride London hosted EuroPride, and fundamentally altered its set up. The parade was rerouted from Piccadilly to Oxford and Regent Streets, and the event footprint was expanded to include Soho. Approximately 600,000 people attended that event, making it a huge success for Pride London, and firmly establishing London’s Pride event as a major event in the LGBT calendar. Pride London also held a two week arts festival, culminating in an all-star fund-raiser in the Royal Albert Hall. On its campaigns, Pride London hosted the successful Prides Against Prejudice conference, focussing on holding Pride events in hostile environments. 

2007 saw a host of external problems around the event. Pride London’s date was changed to a week earlier than usual in order to accommodate the Tour de France in London. On the Thursday before the event, a car-bomb was found located just off the parade route, and there were serious concerns that the parade would have to be stooped or rerouted. Thankfully, the bomb was cleared and the streets reopened on the Friday after intensive discussions with the Metropolitan Police and other statutory bodies. On the Saturday, driving rain started the day off, and the BBC incorrectly broadcast in the morning that Pride had been cancelled. This was only corrected after frantic telephone calls. Despite these tribulations, Pride London still attracted 200,000 people: significantly down on 2006, but still a big number for London. The following weekend saw glorious sunshine for the Tour de France. 

Pride London announced its twinning arrangement with the Latvian LGBT rights organization Mozaika this year as well, an arrangement that Pride London and Mozaika still maintain today.

2008 saw the return to normality. Pride London was restored to its normal date of the first Saturday in July, and the event expanded significantly. 820,000 people attended in what proved to be one of the biggest LGBT events recorded in the United Kingdom ever. Pride London was awarded a prestigious ‘Gold’ award by Visit London for its activities in 2008, marking Pride London as one of the top tourism ventures in London. 

In October 2008, Pride London applied to InterPride for WorldPride status. In a hotly contested competition with Stockholm Pride, Pride London won the bid process, and was awarded WorldPride status, with the WorldPride event scheduled for 2012. 

In 2009, Pride London grew once again, with over 1,000,000 people attending the event as participants or spectators. Pride London also re-launched its arts festival, and had over 80 events running in the two weeks prior to the main day. Highlights included a party-political debate with senior MPs from all parties attending, a twinning with the National Portrait Gallery for their Gay Icons exhibition, and a series of comedy events at the E4 Udderbelly on the South Bank.

While previous years saw a number of politicians join London’s Pride celebrations, far fewer were in attendance today.

pinkuk:

Deputy Mayor of London Richard Barnes and former mayor Ken Livingstone were the most high-profile political faces on the march.

Home Secretary Theresa May attended a reception at the Langham Hotel to meet members of the armed forces, but she did not speak or join the parade.

Peter Tatchell, who was at New York pride last weekend after gay marriage was legalised in the state, said ‘virtually every’ politician from the city was there.

He said: “The absence of politicians sends a very negative signal. It suggests they don’t take LGBT rights seriously.

“Every member of the London assembly should be here.”

When asked whether the political side of Pride may no longer be relevant to many people, he said: “That’s a mistaken view. We still have a ban on same sex civil marriage, the ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, and our equality laws have religious exemptions. LGBT asylum seekers are still being sent back to countries from which they have fled.”

Ken Livingstone, who joined the front of the parade, said: “It’s not a political event. We’ve got a way to catch up with New York.

“We’ve had a very good turnout [of politicians] in the past but it’s not a political event in that sense.

“The key thing now is for the government to go after the issue of marriage.”

On LGBTory’s call for him to be banned from Pride, he said: “They should save their party politics for the election. I was fighting for gay rights when they were voting for section 28.”