No Pride Without Safety
If you only have one minute
Pride first emerged in the 1970s as a movement of resistance against police violence, state repression and discrimination towards LGBTQ+ communities. The movement gained momentum during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, when governments largely failed to respond and communities were forced to organise for their own survival. Since then, significant progress has been made, from marriage equality and adoption rights to greater LGBTQ+ visibility in politics, media and popular culture.
Yet equality remains far from a reality. Around 88% of LGBTQ+ people report experiencing sexual harassment and 77% sexual assault since the age of 18, while many survivors never report abuse due to stigma, fear of being outed, and inadequate support services. At a time when LGBTQ+ rights are facing renewed backlash, including in the UK, Pride remains as much a call to action as a celebration. Together, we must continue to challenge discrimination, support survivors, and ensure that everyone can live with dignity, safety, and equality.
Pride’s roots in resistance
On 28 June 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, sparked confrontations that became a turning point in LGBTQ+ history. At the time, homosexuality was heavily criminalised and gay bars often served as rare safe spaces for those facing discrimination and harassment. Following yet another police raid, patrons, local residents and consumers resisted, and unrest continued for five days. The uprising led to the creation of the Gay Liberation Front, which helped organise the first Pride march one year later, demanding equality and dignity for LGBTQ+ people.
While this is often remembered as the symbolic beginning of the international LGBTQ+ rights movement, similar acts of resistance against police repression emerged across Europe. In the UK, the first gay rights demonstration took place in Highbury Fields in November 1970 following the unsubstantiated arrest of Louis Eakes. Similarly, in France, after a police raid on The Manhattan, a gay club in Paris, those arrested used their trial to denounce state repression and advocate for LGBTQ+rights.
The movement gained further momentum in the 1980s, catalysed by the AIDS crisis. Despite its devastating impact, with 95% of those diagnosed in the US between 1981 and 1987 dying, government response was extremely slow: President Ronald Reagan did not publicly mention AIDS until September 1985, by which time more than 20,000 Americans had already died. In a context where AIDS was widely dismissed as a “gay plague,” reflecting deep homophobia and moral judgement towards queer lives, the crisis exposed states neglect and forced LGBTQ+ communities to organise at scale. Activist groups such as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and ACT UP emerged to provide care, demand treatment access, and challenge government inaction, alongside crucial contributions from lesbian activists in caregiving and solidarity networks.
When progress doesn’t mean safety
Significant progress has been made in the UK since the 1980s: protection against employment discrimination for trans people was established in 1996, same-sex couples gained the right to adopt in 2002, and same-sex marriage was legalised in 2013. Beyond legal change, LGBTQ+ visibility has also increased, with openly gay and lesbian public figures entering Parliament and LGBTQ+ representation becoming more common in mainstream media.
However, LGBTQ+ people continue to face significant inequalities, particularly when it comes to sexual violence. Research shows that 88% of LGBTQ+ people have experienced sexual harassment and 77% have experienced sexual assault since the age of 18. Most survivors also reported being abused by a heterosexual person, highlighting how this violence is rooted in broader systems of power, prejudice, and control. Discrimination also remains widespread: nearly one in five LGBTQ+ people in the UK have been subjected to attempts to change, “cure,” or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity, rising to two in five among trans people.
If sexual violence remains so prevalent within LGBTQ+ communities, survivors are also less likely to report abuse. In the UK, 78% of lesbians and 80% of gay men who have experienced domestic abuse have never reported it to the police. Many fear being outed, not being believed, or facing discrimination from the very institutions meant to support them. Reporting is also hindered by persistent misconceptions that sexual violence only occurs between men and women, rooted in heteronormative beliefs that fail to recognise same-sex relationships and experiences as "real". These stereotypes shape perceptions of both victims and perpetrators, and can even prevent survivors from recognising their own experiences as abuse. At the same time, many support services still lack adequate training on the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities and LGBTQ+ representation remains limited.
Pride in a time of backlash
As long as LGBTQ+ rights are not equal, Pride will remain necessary. Beyond visibility, Pride is a space of recognition and celebration: it honours what the movement has achieved while affirming the right to exist openly and safely. It also creates a sense of belonging for people who are still too often marginalised or isolated, and helps build unity across the movement. This collective visibility is not only symbolic; it is what enables continued organising and the fight for more inclusive and equal rights.
However, this year Pride feels even more urgent. Across the world, LGBTQ+ rights are being rolled back, and the UK is not immune. In 2025, the UK ranked 22nd for LGBTQIA+ rights in Europe, a significant decline from a decade ago when it was considered one of the leading countries in Europe on equality. At the same time, following recent local elections, some reform-led councils have refused to fly the Pride flag and have announced cuts or withdrawals of funding for future Pride events.
This doesn’t have to be. Both individuals and institutions have a responsibility to ensure that Pride remains meaningful and does not become reduced to corporate rainbow-washing. The politicisation of minority identities for electoral or ideological gain is not new, but it can be and must be challenged through solidarity, collective action, and sustained visibility. Protecting LGBTQ+ rights is not only about one community: it is also about defending democratic values, equality, and the right to exist without fear or discrimination.
