Birmingham Pride are seriously considering charging and entry fee next year to, in the words of Midlands Zone, ‘keep out undesirables’.
If you’d like to express the fact that Pride should be an event for the entire community, Midland Zone are holding a survey here.
If you’re not quite sure what the problem is with having to pay for Pride, I’ll explain a little why the LGBTQ is for a free Pride, and you can make your own mind up.
No one should be excluded from being able to take part in Pride purely because they cannot afford it. If the entry fee were to be around £10, as has been suggested, many LGBTQ people who are, for example, currently unemployed, students, or are on things like disability living allowance, would simply not be able to afford to attend. Much as many people would be able to afford it, it is simply not fair to exclude anyone simply because of their income.
The reason for this charge is supposedly to stop homophobic violence and harrassment being an issue during Pride. I personally don’t see why a charge would stop people who were intent on causing harm coming into Pride, and if anything might create a bigger issue if it were to become known among homophobic/transphobic groups that the reason for the charge was their potential actions.
Pride is a Protest. Pride came from the fact that as a community we weren’t able to live our lives, we were being killed and jailed and beaten, simply for being LGBTQ. And that still happens all over the world today, even in Britain (without the jailed part). So until we have complete equality, we must not allow Pride to be solely a party, and we must express our right to still protest the inequalities we face: something we cannot be made to pay for.
