Pride Jubilee: Watch Pride in London recap 50 years of queer history
An actor plays Marsha P Johnson in the Pride Jubilee video. (Pride in London)
Pride in London has released a moving video to honour Stonewall’s golden anniversary.
The Pride Jubilee marks 50 years since the Stonewall riots kickstarted the LGBT+ rights movement, a battle which continues to rage today.
Opening with a reenactment of the Stonewall raid, the video cuts to the UK’s first official Pride in 1972, before zipping ahead to the 1980s and the arrival of the AIDS crisis which has taken the lives of millions globally.
Jumping a few years, the film introduces Section 28, the legislation which banned LGBT+ identities from being discussed in schools.
We hear a stock recording of Margaret Thatcher saying: “The plight of individual boys and girls which worries me most, children… are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.”
The second half of the video focuses on the movement’s successes, recalling the decision to allow lesbians and gay men to serve in the armed forces (2000), the equalisation of the age of consent (2001) and the introduction of marriage equality (2013).
It ends with a reminder of what is left to be done.
“Trans women of colour need them to fight for you the way that they fought for you 50 years ago,” a narrator says.
“There is still more to be done, the battle is not over.”
The final frame shows people from across the LGBT+ spectrum holding banners with messages such as “trans rights are human rights,” “support LGBT+ in Brunei,” “non-binary people are valid” and “say yes to No Outsiders.”
Londoners will see billboards like this one across the city. (Pride in London)
Alongside the film, Londoners will see billboards showing members of the LGBT+ community photographed in the style of classic royal portraiture.
“The campaign uses the visual language of the most privileged people in history to elevate some of the most marginalised and oppressed,” Pride in London said.
LGBT+ history – a timeline
June 28, 1969 – Queer people of colour lead the the Stonewall uprising in New York.
July 11, 972 – The first official UK Gay Pride Rally takes place in London.
Early 1980s – The AIDS crisis devastates London and the world’s queer communities, with thousands diagnosed with HIV over the next decade.
April 9, 1987 – Princess Diana opens the UK’s first purpose-built centre for HIV treatment, shaking the hands of AIDS patients without gloves.
October 9, 1987 – Margaret Thatcher delivers an anti-LGBT speech at the Conservative Party Conference, setting the foundations for Section 28.
May 23, 1988 – Lesbian activists storm the 6 O’Clock News to protest the introduction of Section 28.
January 12, 2000 – The ban is lifted on lesbian, gay and bisexual people openly serving in the British Armed Forces.
November 30, 2000 – Equal age of consent for gay men is finally passed after being blocked multiple times by the House of Lords.
July 17, 2013 – Marriage equality passes in England and Wales.
