Yesterday during the Brighton Pride Parade, an autonomous group of 8 queer actionists jumped in front of the parade, with a banner reading, “No Cops, No TERFS, No Labour, No Pride in Genocide” near the Odeon in an act of protest against the corporate nature of the event. According to a Press Release shared with The Badger, the actionists demanded that, “Brighton Pride ban Sussex police and political parties from Pride”, with a specific emphasis on the Labour Party due to their increasing transphobic rhetoric and the party’s support for the apartheid state of Israel. The actionists further called on Brighton Pride to formally acknowledge the genocide in Palestine, cut ties with all complicit companies and organisations such Coca-Cola (one of the sponsors for Brighton Pride) and University of Sussex, and revise their Brighton Pride’s code of ethics following local transphobic organisation, Sister Salon being given initial permission to march at Pride.
The demands made by the actionists are in-line with those made by Brighton Queers for Palestine in the beginning of July. Their demands are, “Publically and formally acknowledge the genocide in Palestine, drop coca-cola and its subsidary company costa coffee as sponsors, demand that the University of Sussex disclose and divest from investments tied to the human rights abuses, ban political parties and cops from pride and a full revision of their code of ethics.” Following a lack of an effective response and inaction from Brighton Pride, several grassroots lgbtq+ organisations called for a boycott of Brighton Pride 2024, organising alternative events such as DIY Pride and Decolonize Pride for the Pride weekend.
As a part of the Boycott, a static counter protest of approximately 100 people, was held at Victoria Gardens on the Saturday, calling out Brighton Pride on its complicity in the Palestinian Genocide. In-line with the demands of the queer actionists, chants of queer and Palestinian solidarity such as, “Queers out for Palestine, no pride in Genocide”, and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, were heard at the protest.
Chants such as, “Sussex Uni you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” from the demonstration crowd, calling out the University of Sussex on its complicity in the Palestinian genocide, as their section of the parade crossed Victoria Gardens.
In an attempt at Pinkwashing, a group of Zionists blocked the queer actionists marching in front of Pride. In an act of solidarity with the actionists, the parade crowd cheered those marching into e actionists on into moving forward and making their way towards the static demonstration at Victoria Gardens.
Members of Prestige security, which is a private security company hired by Brighton Pride were seen kettling and using excessive force against the queer activists marching in front of the parade around North Street without any form of prior warning being given to them. However, that did not stop them and they kept marching forward on their route, further garnering support from the demonstration attendees near Victoria Gardens.
Upon reaching the protest rally at Victoria gardens, the actionists garnered widespread support from the rally goers, some joining them in the streets to show their support. The group of activists along with the rally crowd were able to successfully block and isolate the Coca-Cola float near Brighton Pavillion, which was part of the Pride march for 30 minutes causing the Parade to change its course and go along London Road. A parade goer who witnessed the protest at Victoria Gardens said, “ the parade was completely halted for 30 minutes as the counter-protesters blocked the bus. Most of the onlookers supported their cause and cheered them on.”
In an act of solidarity, Brighton Pavillion MP Sian Berry, tweeted in support of the peaceful protesters blocking the Coca-Cola Float, reaffirming the fact that Pride is and has always been a protest.
While no arrests were made, heavy police presence was observed at Victoria gardens along with the actionists being followed by the Police for the entirety of their route.