At Brighton Pride an anti-cuts 'Queers Against the Cuts' bloc registered to march in the parade but was sent to the back by Pride organisers and Police. Participants were subjected to kettling and intimidation throughout the parade. See reports here and here. Peter Tatchell said,
"Throughout the march they were kettled by police on foot and horseback, and subjected to repeated intimidation. The group was peaceful and orderly. There was no justification for the way they were mistreated. No other political contingent was abused in this way. It marred what was otherwise a great parade.
"Participating groups should not be subjected to political vetting or censorship. I hope this was just a case of over-zealous, maverick stewarding and policing and not officially sanctioned by the Brighton Pride organisers."
Pride organisers have commented in G-Scene
that the Queers Against the Cuts bloc was asked to move to the back
of Pride because of concerns raised by the Police:
“It transpired that the group gave an open invite for people join them and Sussex Police raised some concerns about this. We were advised by Sussex Police to move them to the back of the parade, when stewards attempted to facilitate this the group declined to move at all.”
However the bloc organisers were always
clear that individuals could join if they agreed with its
message. The Labour Party, Tories and Liberal Democrats all
extended open invites to members of the public to join their section
of the parade; why were they not sent to the back? When the
police called Beth, the main organiser, to introduce themselves prior
to the parade they expressed no concerns about the bloc.
Click to enlarge
Chief Supt Graham Bartlett comments
were also misleading, as they argue the use of horses and officers at
the back of the parade was totally innocent:
“Police officers have always walked at the back in order to distinguish the parade from the rest of the public and to safely manage the parade through the streets to its destination in Preston Park, and to make sure there is a safe distance between the horses and members of the public.”
This says nothing about the Police
kettling half the bloc, and nothing of why the bloc was relegated to
the back in the first place, presumably for the reasons described by
the organisers. More importantly, it doesn't at the very least
acknowledge the intimidation felt by participants who were surrounded
by police and four horses throughout the parade!
The main point needs to be repeated:
Pride needs to reconnect with its campaigning roots at a time of
significant attacks on the rights and services of LGBTQ people and
communities. The impact of cuts in public services will affect LGBTQ
people and communities especially hard. Raising the age for single
room housing benefit, cuts and privatisation of the NHS, cuts in the
public sector (with the best records in equalities policies), cuts to
LGBT and youth services, and attacks on employment rights all stand
to turn back the clock.
While significant legal advances have
been made against discrimination, prejudice cannot be legislated
away. More and more people are concluding that liberation has not
been achieved, and that a mass movement is necessary to defend and
extend the rights and services that have been won. Alongside the rest
of the workers’ movement, the campaign needs to be waged
against austerity and the phenomenal profits being accumulated
by the super-rich at our expense.
Events at Brighton Pride this year are
the result of the continued watering-down of the Pride celebration to
little more than a billboard for big business, with organisers and
police ensuring that even organised participation by anti-cuts
campaigners, Socialists etc. faced intimidation, harassment and
exclusion.
