Pride Cymru

Last updated

Pride Cymru
PredecessorCardiff Mardi Gras
Formation1999; 2014
TypeLGBT Charity
Registration no.UK Registered Charity (no. 1137744)
Location
  • Cardiff, Wales
Website www.pridecymru.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Pride Cymru (previously Cardiff Mardi Gras) is an LGBT pride festival held annually in Cardiff, Wales.

Contents

Pride Cymru's Big Weekend is the biggest celebration of equality and diversity in Wales. Over 3 days, Pride Cymru hosts over 50,000 people in the Welsh capital to raise awareness of equality and diversity and supporting the LGBT+ community. [1] As part of the festival, there are various cabaret performances, funfair rides, live music, bars and food stalls, and a family area. [1]

History

The first Cardiff Mardi Gras took place in Bute Park, Cardiff, in September 1999 as a response to an increase in hate crime in South Wales. [2] Over 5,000 people attended this inaugural event. [3] Cardiff Mardi Gras became a registered charity in 2010. Since 2012 the event has included a pride parade through Cardiff city centre. [4] In 2014, Cardiff Mardi Gras was renamed Pride Cymru, and has been operating under this name ever since. The Charity has 3 Patrons including Steps singer Ian 'H' Watkins, Actress Lu Corfield and Established Drag Performer Rob Keetch 'Dr Bev'. Previous Patrons include Russell T Davies, Charlotte Church, and Nigel Owens.

Ever since its first event, the festival has continued to grow. It now attracts up to 50,000 people over the three days of the Pride Cymru Big Weekend Festival and is considered to be one of the fastest-growing LGBTI events in the UK. [5]

Pride Cymru was relocated from Bute Park to City Hall Lawns in 2017, due to a booking clash with the Champions League final that year. [6] However, the Big Weekend has continued to be held at the City Hall Lawns ever since. [7] The 2025 event will return to Bute Park.

Controversy

Cardiff Council

In 2016, there was a rumour started that Cardiff Council had dropped support for the event. [8] In an official statement, the Pride Cymru chair said she was told by the council that they'd "made a choice not to allow events during the summer of 2017". [9] There was strong local opposition to the decision and the issue prompted a personal appeal from Sir Ian McKellen in which he compared the negative attitude toward the LGBT community with that seen in India and China on his travels. [10]

Under intense pressure, Cardiff Council reversed its decision and awarded Pride Cymru a slot later in August to move it away from other major events taking place. The organisers would instead take over the running of the council's Big Weekend open-air music festival. [11] [12]

2022 Parade Disruption

The 2022 parade was disrupted by protesters from Get the L Out, a gender-critical feminism group. The disruption was planned with Merched Cymru, Wales Women's Rights Network, and the LGB Alliance. [13] Signs held by the group included quotes of "Lesbian, not queer", "TransActivism Erases Lesbians", and "Lesbians Don’t Like Penises". [14] The protesters were approached by South Wales Police officers and asked to move aside. Many in the community found the disruption disappointing and upsetting on a day intended to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in Cardiff. Pride Cymru later released a statement reading:

Today’s Pride Cymru parade was all about celebration and LGBTQ+ rights. Despite a small group of people interrupting the march, they were drowned out by the shouts of solidarity from the community and spectators. There is no place for hate at Pride. And as our parade said today loudly and clearly: "Trans rights are human rights." [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras</span> LGBT pride event

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the largest Pride event in Oceania. It includes a variety of events such as the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade and Party, Bondi Beach Drag Races, Harbour Party, the academic discussion panel Queer Thinking, Mardi Gras Film Festival, as well as Fair Day, which attracts 70,000 people to Victoria Park, Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Pride</span> Annual LGBTQ+ event in Brighton and Hove, England

Brighton and Hove Pride is an annual LGBT pride event held in the city of Brighton and Hove, England, organised by Brighton Pride, a community interest company (CIC) which promotes equality and diversity, and advances education to eliminate discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBTQ) community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pride (LGBTQ culture)</span> Positive stance toward LGBTQ people

Pride is the promotion of the rights, self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBTQ rights movements. Pride has lent its name to LGBTQ-themed organizations, institutes, foundations, book titles, periodicals, a cable TV channel, and the Pride Library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Pride</span> Annual LGBT event in Manchester, England

Manchester Pride is a charity that campaigns for LGBTQ+ equality across the United Kingdom, predominantly in Greater Manchester. The Charity offers dialogue, training, research and policy analysis, advocacy and outreach activities focusing on LGBTQ+ rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WorldPride</span> International LGBTQ Pride celebration and parade

WorldPride is a series of international LGBT pride events coordinated by InterPride; they are hosted in conjunction with local LGBT pride festivals, with host cities selected via bids voted on during InterPride's annual general meetings. Its core events include opening and closing ceremonies, a pride parade, and an LGBT human rights conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiff Big Weekend</span> Former music festival in Cardiff, Wales

The Cardiff Big Weekend took place annually from 1993 to 2011, and in 2017 as part of the Cardiff Festival organized by Cardiff Council. The event was free, and lasted three days. As well as music over the weekend, there were fair rides on site, and firework displays.

Australia is one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in the world. In a 2013 Pew Research poll, 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth most supportive country in the survey behind Spain (88%), Germany (87%), and Canada and the Czech Republic. With a long history of LGBTQ rights activism and an annual three-week-long Mardi Gras festival, Sydney is considered one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pride parades in South Africa</span>

There have been pride parades in South Africa celebrating LGBT pride since 1990. South African pride parades were historically used for political advocacy protesting against legal discrimination against LGBT people, and for the celebration of equality before the law after the apartheid era. They are increasingly used for political advocacy against LGBT hate crimes, such as the so-called corrective rape of lesbians in townships, and to remember victims thereof.

Cairns Tropical Pride was an annual LGBTQ pride parade and festival in Cairns, Australia, and the largest LGBT event in Tropical North Queensland. The first event was held in 2006, and was originally held in conjunction with the Cairns Festival before changing its name for 2015 and 2016 to "Tropical Mardi Gras" and its timing to October. The event reverted to Cairns Tropical Pride for 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madrid Pride</span> Annual LGBT event in Madrid, Spain

Madrid Pride, popularly known in Spanish as the Orgullo Gay de Madrid or La Noche de Patos and its acronym MADO, is the annual LGBT pride festival hosted at Chueca neighbourhood in the centre of Madrid, during the weekend immediately after June 28, International Day of LGBT Pride.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Vancouver</span>

Vancouver's LGBT community is centered on Davie Village. Commercial Drive has historically acted as a gayborhood for the Vancouver lesbian community. Historically, LGBT people have also gathered in the Chinatown and Gastown neighborhoods. Former establishments include Dino's Turkish Baths, a gay bathhouse on Hastings, and the city's first drag bar, BJ's, on Pender Street.

Dayenu is an LGBTQ+ organisation based in Sydney, Australia. The word Dayenu means "enough" in Hebrew, and the group uses it to mean that they have had "enough" of homophobia.

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community in Manchester.

Ron Austin was an Australian LGBT rights activist, who was known for being one of the founders of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival</span> Annual LGBTQ Pride carnival event and parade in Knysna, township, Western Cape, South Africa

The Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival is an annual LGBTQ Pride carnival event and parade held in Knysna, a coastal township in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Events include their version of the Wigstock drag queen festival, a bear fest, athletic events, and an art festival. It is one of the country's largest LGBTQ events. Since its start in 2000 it has grown to be a significant event for the town culminating in the grand finale of Pink Loerie, Knysna Pride parade and its 1000-person after-party held on the final weekend with floats, performers, and DJs. The Knysna loerie is a green bird but the color pink has a long association with LGBTQ culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Sydney</span>

The LGBT community of Sydney, in New South Wales, is the largest in Australia and has a firm place as one of the iconic gay cities of the contemporary world. In a 2013 Pew Research poll, 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth most supportive country in the survey behind Spain (88%), Germany (87%), Canada and the Czech Republic. With a long history of LGBT rights activism and the annual three-week-long Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival, Sydney is one of the most gay-friendly cities in Australia and in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norena Shopland</span> Welsh heritage and LGBTQ+ historian

Norena Shopland is a Welsh historian and writer who specialises in (LGBTQ+) research and history. She has been highlighted as a Welsh LGBTQ+ person of significance, and she gives talks, lectures and workshops on Welsh heritage and LGBT+ history. She has organised, curated and consulted on exhibitions and events within the heritage sector in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in Cardiff</span>

The LGBT community in Cardiff is the largest in Wales. The 2021 census found that 5.33% of people aged 16 and over identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other. It has also been ranked as the 8th most accepting city in the world for the LGBT community.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Big Weekend". Pride Cymru. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  2. ↑ "Pride Cymru turns 20 this year amid a worrying surge in anti-LGBTI crime". Gay Star News. 21 June 2019. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  3. ↑ "About – Pride Cymru" . Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  4. ↑ Liz Day (14 August 2016). "The best pictures from the Pride Cymru festival 2016". Wales Online . Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "Pride Cymru turns 20 this year amid a worrying surge in anti-LGBTI crime". Gay Star News. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ Discombe, Matt (26 July 2018). "Future of Pride Cymru event 'under threat' as costs row ensues". walesonline. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  7. ↑ Discombe, Matt (26 July 2018). "Future of Pride Cymru event 'under threat' as costs row ensues". walesonline. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "Pride Cymru: Uncertainty over 2017 LGBT event in Cardiff". BBC News. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "Fears Pride Cymru will have to find a new home because of Champions League fanzone". Wales Online. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Sir Ian McKellen: Pride 2017 uncertainty 'alarming'". BBC News. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  11. ↑ Mosalski, Ruth (20 December 2016). "Cardiff's Big Weekend is coming back – and organisers promise it will be bigger and better". WalesOnline. UK. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  12. ↑ "Pride Cymru & Other Major LGBTQ+ Events in Wales: 2023 Guide". 22 March 2023.
  13. ↑ "No place for hate, says Pride Cymru after Cardiff protest". BBC News. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  14. ↑ Milton, Josh (28 August 2022). "Anti-trans group hijacking Pride Cymru 'drowned out' by the LGBTQ+ community". PinkNews. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  15. ↑ https://twitter.com/PrideCymru/status/1563539420711915520?t=hcjwET8jcR5CMITOpngwVA&s=19 [ bare URL ]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.