More than a million people and some 600 LGBT groups are expected to take part in what organizers call “the largest and most inclusive event in history”.
The march from Hyde Park at midday to arrive in Whitehall, in the heart of London, pays homage to the first march organized in the United Kingdom in 1972, fifty years ago.
Artists including American pop singer Ava Max and Eurovision 2018 winner Netta are due to perform on four stages in central London.
Mohammed Nazir, 24, a member of Rainbows Across Borders, said he dedicates the march to those who are still forced to hide their sexuality. This march “is a question of self-affirmation, dignity and equality (..) a movement where we always fight for our rights”, he told the PA agency.
“We are marching today for a more open, inclusive world,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who posed for photographers alongside someone dressed as a queen.
“We are marching today for those in Oslo,” he added in reference to the fatal shooting near a gay bar in the Norwegian capital last weekend, which led to the march being postponed. pride in Oslo.
As 1,235 monkeypox cases were reported in the UK on Thursday, the ‘overwhelming majority’ of which are men who have sex with men, public health officials urged people not to visit to the Walk if they show symptoms of the disease, such as pimples.
“Please do not attend if you have symptoms of monkeypox or if you are not feeling well. If you have a rash or blisters, stay home, call a sexual health clinic and have them checked out. test you,” said Wendi Shepherd, a monkeypox monitor at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
