Gay Pride London and Birmingham marches
1972
The GLF group went to the Gay Pride marches in London and even held a few small marches in Birmingham in the early 1970s. “These were not very big and they were not police chaperoned at all, we took banners and marched down New Street, about 30 of us behind a GLF banner all shouting GLF mantras like ‘Glad to be gay’. I don’t remember any hostile reaction from the crowd; I think they were just bemused. Our aim was to announce ourselves and let Birmingham know gay people were here ‘Here we are and here we’ll stay’. The marches were a mixture of men and women.” The march would go down New Street and along High Street to the Peace Centre on Moor Street.
Contributed by: Nick Stanley, 63