by Carmen Rivera - Special to the SGN

Like any major city, London has a Pride Weekend celebration every year. However, what made this year so special was that the city hosted the World Pride Festival, which is organized by InterPride (the International Association of Pride Organizers) and which coincided with the 19th annual Europride. For me, this is an incredible year to live in England. Pride Weekend fell right between the Queen's Diamond Jubilee (celebrating the 60th year of her reign) and the 2012 Olympics!

To be in London that weekend was immense. I came in on the train from Liverpool on July 6, the day before the parade, and the city was booming even more than usual. The rainbow flags were up around Trafalgar Square, where the main festival was held, as well as the surrounding areas of the city.

It was an excellent weekend of celebration, even with the last-minute changes. The parade was originally meant to start at 1 p.m. and end at 3, but was pushed up to start at 11 a.m. Also, all floats were taken out of the parade, supposedly for budgetary reasons. Instead, each group marched on foot. Despite this, the energy of the parade and the people did not falter in the slightest. My friend and I sat near the end of the parade route, but the drag queens were still going strong when they reached us, doing full strut in their stilettos!

When we first arrived to claim our spot, I was surprised to see a group of picketers with signs bearing supposedly anti-Gay Bible verses. I had never seen that at Seattle's Pride event, and my friend was rather insulted by their presence. But the police ensured that they stayed in line, and they did not take away from our celebration. Once everyone began gathering, the Bible thumpers were quickly drowned out by cheers of joy and positive affirmations of the Gay community. As LGBTQ youth ran around giving everyone free hugs, I quickly forgot about the protest.

The parade began later than its rescheduled starting time, and did not reach us until around 12:30 p.m. As can be expected in England, it rained at times - but again, this didn't stop the cheering or keep the parade from going strong. There were dozens of stewards around working calmly with police to keep the crowd off the parade route and make sure all went according to plan.

Around 3 p.m., the parade ended and everyone made their way to Trafalgar Square, where entertainers from all over Europe came to sing and celebrate. It was awesome, even with the clouds overhead. I am still surprised at how confident and comfortable I feel in the Gay community and especially at Pride events. Everyone was drinking, buzzing, dancing, and happily celebrating our community. My favorite part was when the host of the festival stated that World Pride is more than a celebration - it is a political statement encouraging those still in the closet to come out and be proud.

Up to now, World Pride has happened every six years, but this is changing. The first one was held in Rome in 2000, and the second took place in Jerusalem in 2006. Another World Pride is being planned for Toronto in 2014 to mark the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. After that, the event will be held every five years.

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