Imagine
The very first Pride March
Saturday 1 July 1972
It was a hot, dry summer in London
They showed up
A crowd of 700
Probably scared, anxious
Excited
Defiant
They walked
They swaggered
Danced
Staggered
Imagine
The very first Pride March
Before Thatcher
Before the gays supported the miners
Before George Michael, Freddie Mercury and the rest
Men, kissing each other in public
Was still an arrestable offence
Being gay was classified as a mental illness
Everything was different then
Fear. Hostility. Violence.
Secrecy
Imagine
The very first Pride March
Before the first openly gay MP
Before Section 28
Before the AIDS crisis
There were no openly queer footballers
No legal rights
No civil partnerships or marriages
Turning up to Pride would have been brave
Courageous
Resistant
Imagine
The very first Pride March
No rainbow flags
No trans or non binary stickers
None of that had been invented yet
But banners
And badges
And t-shirts
And loud hailers
Proud people
Laughing
Singing
Chanting
Don’t assimilate
Innovate
That’s what they said
Imagine
The very first Pride March
Imagine
The very first Pride March