London: Last week was significant in more than many ways for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender, Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) community and as united colours of rainbow spread with pride it was the beginning of a new chapter.
London Eye, a signature point of United Kingdom and Niagara Falls, the pride of American continent got washed in bright rainbow colours to celebrate US legalising gay marriage and free society for LGBT community over the last weekend.
As many as 260 groups representing and struggling for gay right movement along with 30,000 supporters, donning rainbow colours came for the annual Pride in London Parade Walk 2015-Pride In London. Starting from Orchard Street, passing through the Europe’s busiest shopping street Oxford Street the parade progressed towards Whitehall. The celebration culminated with a musical evening at Trafalgar Square, where thousands thronged to dance and posting Twitter updates at #prideheroes.
LGBT community donning colourful makeovers and raising the rainbow flags high towards the sky, were clearly energised by the two landmark decisions advancing LGBT legal rights. While the community celebrated United States Supreme Court legalisation of same sex marriage on Friday and a referendum in Ireland giving green light to same sex marriages in May, there were several groups which highlighted at the increasing societal discrimination against the community.
While gay marriage is acceptable and legal in Great Britain, Northern Ireland still faces a legal ban. At the parade, activist Peter Tatchell held a campaign that encouraged people to fight for lifting the ban on same sex marriage. “Northern Ireland! End the same sex marriage ban. Equal marriage,” read the banner.
School going teenagers came out with banners to highlight discrimination against gays and lesbians in school.
School students with their face marked with rainbow colours, who had just finished their GCSE tests, came out in full force in support of LGBT students who flung schooling for the fear of getting mocked and ridiculed.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron applauded this year’s theme ‘Pride Heroes’, which aimed a recalling the efforts of famous people hailing from the LGBT community. Mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing was selected as one of the prominent LGBT figures who was celebrated for voicing Gay rights and contribution in Computer technology. Turing’s great-niece Clare Dowling participated in the Pride march alongside Japanese technology company Fujitsu hailed Turing’s contribution to technology. The mathematician’s contribution during the Second World War was remarkable but he was prosecuted for homosexual acts in 1952. The court had granted him with a harsh punishment of chemical castration, while he had died of suspected suicide, as was poignantly depicted Oscar nominated film The Imitation Game, starring British actor Benedict Cumberbatch.
“There is continuing work to tackle domestic abuse, homelessness, health inequalities, bullying in schools and to bring about positive reform around the world,” wrote Cameron in his message to the Pride groups.
Continuing with the efforts to make some more visible transformation, a brand new webseries titled ‘Spectrum East’ is being launched on You Tube in November 2015. Featuring a lot of prominent faces from showbiz, the series will highlight the issues faced by people across the LGBT spectrum.
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