Gay rights activist Tatchell leads ‘Reclaim Pride’ march in London to protest ‘too corporate’ Pride events

A ‘Reclaim Pride march – led by British politician and LGBT rights activist Peter Tatchell – took place in London on Saturday to support gay rights in Africa and protest larger Pride events, which he says are more “corporate.”

The march went from Parliament Square to Downing Street and to the Uganda High Commission, where the participants protested against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for not enacting enough pro-LGBT policies, and the Ugandan government – which has been criticized by Amnesty International for persecuting LGBT people through anti-homosexuality laws.

Reclaim Pride’s “liberation demands” for the event included calls for a UK ban on gay conversion therapy, the development of a “safe haven” for LGBT refugees, the decriminalisation of LGBT people across the entire world, and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

In an interview with GB News on Saturday, Tatchell said that he and many other LGBT activists “were not happy with the way in which Pride in London is run” and that Pride London is “too corporate, too commercial, and it isn’t profiling LGBT+ human rights.”

“So, this is very much reclaiming Pride for the community,” he explained, adding that there are “no corporate sponsors” involved with the “grassroots” event.

Though Tatchell received praise from some Brits in the LGBT community who also consider Pride events to have become too commercial, not everyone on social media was enthusiastic about the event.

“What rights do LGBT+ people not have in this country?” questioned one person. “What do the L’s and the G’s have in common with the T’s? What rights do bisexuals think they are missing?”

Another user declared, “As a gay man I have never taken part in pride… I have never been able to understand how men minceing around in hot pants will give me anymore equal rights [than] what I already have.”

Tatchell – who unsuccessfully ran for MP as both a Labour and a Green Party candidate over the past few decades – has repeatedly made headlines for his loud LGBT activism over the years, which include trying to perform a citizen’s arrest on former Zimbabwean Prime Minister Robert Mugabe during that leader’s visits to London in both 1999 and 2001.

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