Eurostar and Transport for London roll out the rainbow carpet for Pride in London

Eurostar has created a rainbow carpet at St Pancras International to welcome revellers to Pride in London this weekend – and Transport for London has painted trans flags on tube benches.

The Eurostar platform at the central London station has been freshly painted in the colours of the rainbow flag to celebrate the capital’s Pride parade on Saturday, July 7. 

Pride in London runs throughout June and into the beginning of July – with events, including a film festival, being held across the capital – culminating in the iconic parade this weekend, which tens of thousands are expected to attend.

Passengers travelling by Eurostar to London to celebrate Pride 2018 are welcomed by a rainbow carpet on the platforms at St Pancras International. on July 4, 2018. (Ian Gavan/Getty)

Meanwhile, Transport for London (TfL) has painted underground roundels and benches with the Pride-colours.

TfL has also installed the trans flag – the first time it has done so – on some tube benches and roundels.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m proud to raise the Pride flag at City Hall. For the first time this year London will celebrate our LGBT+ community with both rainbow and trans colours across the transport network.”

Some queer football fans have been frustrated by the Pride in London march, which will clash with England’s match against Sweden in the quarter finals of the World Cup on Saturday.

LGBT+ coloured roundels and benches decorated at Shoreditch High Street for Pride. (TfL)

Pride in London has also been marred in controversy, with leading LGBT rights charity Stonewall pulling out in February, accusing the organisers of failing to represent people of colour.

Earlier this week, European pride organisers hit-out at Stonewall in a damning new report, condemning the charity for partnering clothing brand Primark.

The new report – compiled by the UK Pride Organisers Network and European Pride Organisers Association – slammed the LGBT+ rights charity’s recent conduct, and demanded an apology from chief executive Ruth Hunt. 

The publication contained six recommendations for the charity.

These include that, within one month of the next Board of Trustees meeting, “Stonewall publishes a policy statement on Pride, in which it affirms that Pride is an important event for the whole LGBT community…and that it does not seek, now or in the immediate future, to run Pride events.”

The report’s guidance continued: “The chief executive of Stonewall issues a public apology acknowledging the disquiet amongst Pride organisers about their conduct, and committing the organisation to work more constructively with Prides.”

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• Dec 18 2024

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