Pride-goers ‘hack’ anti-LGBTQ+ protesters’ sound-system with camp disco anthem ‘It’s Raining Men’
Pride-goers claim to have ‘hacked’ anti-LGBTQ+ protesters’ sound-system with It’s Raining Men (TikTok/@goose.jpg and Twitter/@SkyScottBeasley)
Revellers from Pride in London have claimed that a group of anti-LGBTQ+ protesters had their sound-system “hacked” with an iconic rendition of “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls.
In a TikTok from London’s Pride parade on Saturday (2 July), a social media user claimed “somebody hacked into the anti-gay protesters’ speaker… and started to play ‘It’s Raining Men’.”
While another TikTok commenter claimed that the anti-Pride protesters’ system wasn’t hacked, people merely blasted the song next to them, the original poster confirmed that at least you “couldn’t hear them” over the joyful sound of the parade.
Pride in London, which took place the day after the 50th anniversary of UK’s first Pride march and reportedly hosted a record 1.5 million people, did attract a small group of anti-LGBTQ+ protesters. However they were not only drowned out by music, but made fun of by the cast of Netflix’s Heartstopper.
The cast of the popular Netflix show – including Joe Locke, Jenny Walser, Kit Connor, Sebastian Croft, Tobie Donovan, Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell – reportedly danced in front of the hate group, waved the middle finger and loudly sang along to Whitney Houston’s hit “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”.
@goose.jpg Love is love. #londonpride #pride #loveislove #london #prideinlondon #PrimarkSummerUp
London’s spectacular Pride event was a show of both celebration and protest, with an LGBTQ+ activist group staging a “die-in” against police being allowed to take part in the parade.
The demonstration by Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants (LGSMigrants) went on for 23 minutes to draw attention to the number of people who have died in Metropolitan Police custody since the end of 2020.
Dressed all in black and wearing pink veils, protesters lay on the ground and blocked marchers from the Metropolitan Police from proceeding.
Sam Björn, spokesperson for LGSMigrants, said in a statement: “50 years ago LGBTQ+ people came together with a desire to overhaul the status quo and the belief that a better, kinder world is possible.
“We protested because the police endanger our communities. They detain children of colour, rape women and arrest those of us at the sharpest end of society. Straight or gay, in matching rainbow t-shirts or in uniform, that has to change.
“50 years ago a Pride that looks like the one we see in London today seemed like an impossible dream. 50 years from now we know that we’ll be dancing in the streets celebrating a world free from police and their violence.”
On Friday (1 July) ahead of the march, Pride in London said uniformed police officers should avoid marching, in a last-minute U-turn as backlash mounted. Police officers were still allowed to march in plain clothes.
