Portsmouth Pride

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Portsmouth Pride
Batala Portsmouth Lead Portsmouth Pride March 2.jpg
Portsmouth Pride parade in Southsea, 2023
FrequencyAnnually
Locations Portsmouth, England
Founded ()
Next event6 June 2026 [1]
Website portsmouthpride.org.uk

Portsmouth Pride is an annual LGBTQ pride event in the city of Portsmouth, England, led by the Portsmouth Pride Trust, a registered charity. [2]

Contents

History

In December 2014, a 2015 Portsmouth Pride event was announced; Portsmouth LGBT Pride chair David Lee-Bastable stated that he believed the last event had taken place in 2003. The event was planned to start and end at Victoria Park and stalls and performances in Guildhall Square. [3]

Portsmouth Pride became a registered charity in August 2018. [2] 14,000 people attended Portsmouth Pride in June 2022. In July that year, the u-turn of MP Penny Mordaunt on transgender rights for her bid in the Conservative Party leadership election led to Portsmouth Pride being contacted by several distressed people from the LGBTQ community. [4] MP Stephen Morgan joined the march in 2023. [5]

Mayor Gerald Vernon-Jackson (right) at Portsmouth Pride 2025 Mayor Gerald Vernon-Jackson at Portsmouth Pride.jpg
Mayor Gerald Vernon-Jackson (right) at Portsmouth Pride 2025

In 2025, Portsmouth was selected "with a strong majority" from over 260 community-run Pride organisations for UK Pride by the UK Pride Organisers Network. [5] For this event Portsmouth Historic Quarter commissioned the decoration of Foxtrot 8, a Falklands War landing craft, with a rainbow vinyl wrap to celebrate the progress of LGBTQ community in the armed forces. [6] Acts at the event included Nadine Coyle who headlined, as well as Katie Price, Sabrina Washington and drag queens Kyran Thrax, Victoria Scone, and River Medway. [5]

References

  1. "Portsmouth Pride". www.portsmouthpride.org.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  2. 1 2 "PORTSMOUTH PRIDE TRUST - Charity number: 1179715". Charity Commission for England and Wales . Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  3. "Portsmouth Pride celebrations planned for June 2015". BBC News . 8 December 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  4. Wall, Tom (16 July 2022). "'We disagree politically, but she knows how to run things': Penny Mordaunt's sudden rise to bookies' favourite no surprise to Portsmouth locals". The Guardian . ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 "Portsmouth hosts UK Pride 2025 celebrations". BBC News . 7 June 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  6. Sigsworth, Tim (15 May 2025). "Falklands War landing craft is decorated for Pride". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 11 December 2025.