We played camped-up versions of party games like spin the bottle and drop the hanky. Everyone brought food, booze, dope and music. When the march arrived at Hyde Park, there was no festival or entertainment – just an impromptu DIY queer picnic, what we called a “Gay Day”. The homophobic media refused to report Pride. Unlike nowadays, Pride in 1972 had no commercialisation or corporate sponsorship – and no government funding or messages of support. Most had never knowingly seen a LGBT+ person, let alone hundreds of queers marching to demand human rights. We received mixed reactions from the public, some hostile and some supportive – and a lot of curiosity and bewilderment. I marched with my then partner, jazz guitarist Peter Smith, carrying a placard that simply read: “Gay is good” – a revolutionary idea in that era, when most people thought gay was very bad. There were lots of extravagant costumes and cheeky banners poking fun at homophobes like the morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse. The march was a carnival-style parade, which went from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park. That didn’t happen, but we were swamped by a heavy police presence.ĭespite this intimidation, we were determined to have a fun time and make our point. They thought everyone would be arrested or bashed. Many of my friends were too scared to march. I was one of about 30 GLF activists who organised that first UK Pride march, which took place in London on 1 July 1972. In those days, nearly all LGBT+ people were closeted and many felt ashamed of their sexual orientation and gender identity. This was a radical departure from the norm. To combat the invisibility and denigration of the queer community, we decided to organise a “Gay Pride” march, with the theme of being out and proud. It was Britain’s first movement of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and the first to move beyond mere law reform, to take on the homophobia of the church, media, police and the medical and psychiatric professions. Way back in the early 1970s, I was a member of the newly-formed Gay Liberation Front (GLF). Looking back over the last 50 years, it is extraordinary how Pride has grown since that inaugural 1972 march (Jamie Gardiner)