Rainbow coalition

Going Out Boats, disco bikes and solidarity — Pride fortnight kicks off tomorrow, climaxing with a euphoric parade, says Katie Strick

PRIDE is a highlight of the London year. Tomorrow the city’s annual dose of glitter and false eyelashes gets into full swing, with parades, exhibitions and street food. Already, Oxford Circus’s Tube signs have been painted in rainbow colours, and some of the capital’s traffic lights have gender symbols instead of red and green men.

It’s always a celebration of freedom, love and solidarity. But this year feels particularly poignant as we toast 50 years since the decriminalisation of male homosexual acts in private in England and Wales.

As we celebrate how far we have come, there will also be reflection on the values Pride represents. London has been hit hard three times in the space of a month. Terror attacks at London Bridge and Finsbury Park mosque and the fire at Grenfell Tower affected every sector of our society: old, young, black, white, Muslims, Christians, British-born and those from abroad. It’s an appropriate time to recognise diversity and togetherness in the capital and this year’s Pride’s theme is “Love Happens Here”.

“It’s a real celebration,” says James Holt, Pride’s communications director. “Twelve months ago the Pride parade happened shortly after the shooting in the Orlando nightclub, and also just after the Brexit vote. There was the sense of a mood that was captured by London and Pride that actually made it a really special event. I think we’re looking at the same thing this year.”

For the months leading up to the festival, which begins tomorrow, hundreds of people have been submitting their stories of love. Thirty of the most poignant have been placed on a map of London to be released for the Pride fortnight.