The organizers of London Pride are facing major backlash over their posters which have been deemed offensive. As a part of their annual Pride Festival, Pride in London launched their Love Happens Here posters to promote the festival which takes place June 24 through July 9.
As soon as the posters hit social media a few of them caught the eye of LGBTQ+ users everywhere as they used the word gay as a slur and were marketed towards straight people. The posters also left out the members of the LGBTQ+ community who are not the L & the G.
The posters were created as members of the LGBTQ+ community along with those who identify as straight were asked to send in their personal experiences and stories to London Pride organizers. Organizers then asked artists to create posters based off the anecdotes.
London Pride has now said that they “misjudged” the context behind some of the stories and Twitter users could not agree more.
WHY IS LONDON PRIDE ALL ABOUT STRAIGHT PEOPLE pic.twitter.com/0oKo1wJYsa
— innes mckendrick (@innesmck) June 29, 2017
About half the posters mention straight people, but not a single one mentions trans people. Hooray for pride.
— innes mckendrick (@innesmck) June 29, 2017
Not a single mention of bisexuals, but plenty from straight people. Interesting. #LondonPride #Biphobia
— Pippin Drill ❄️ (@PippinDrill) June 29, 2017
The real shame is the posters are beautifully designed, some with great messages, but you cannot use gay as a pejorative on LGBT material
— The Guyliner (@theguyliner) June 29, 2017
London Pride has since apologized, through a statement published to their website, and have removed the four offensive posters from the festival.
The statement reads “It is clear we misjudged the content of some of the messages in this poster series, undermining the individuality, importance, and dignity of the LGBT+ community. This was never our intention, and we are genuinely sorry to have played any part in something that appears to devalue our own community, and have removed these four images from our campaign.”
“London’s LGBT+ community is vibrant, diverse and strong, with incredible activists at its heart. Our ambition is, and always will be to promote and celebrate the visibility and diversity of London’s LGBT+ community, to stand up against hate, and campaign for true equality at home and abroad.”
They end the statement by pleading to the community to put the posters behind them and celebrate Pride for all that it is.
“This year has seen our largest ever LGBT+ campaign, taking our messages of love around the world, breaking new ground in the UK, launching new services to tackle hate crime and raising awareness of the persecution of LGBT+ people around the world. We hope the breadth of our campaign, that celebrates the wonderful spectrum of LGBT+ life in London, is a more truthful reflection of our community.”
The 14-day festival is best marked by the London Pride Parade being held this year on July 8.
Celebrate pride as its meant to be celebrated despite those who try to bring you down. Support each other, love one another and by all means be loud and proud of who you are this pride month.
