Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.371.9
Object Name
Badge
Title
Gay Pride '83
Place
London
Events
Pride
Description
Pink plastic badge with black text reading "Gay Pride '83"
Pink was a common colour associated with the Gay Pride movement, potentially connected to the pink triangle. This symbol was reclaimed by the gay community after originally being a symbol of persecution. The symbol originated as a pink triangle cloth patch, used to identify gay men in prisons and concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Its reclaimed use spread through the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and 1980s and is now positively associated with the wider LGBTQIA community.
The first official UK Gay Pride rally occurred in 1972. It was known as Gay Pride until 1983, after which it was renamed 'Lesbian and Gay Pride'. Pride Rallys originated as a protest against homophobia - both individual and institutional. London Pride usually takes place in July, as the 1972 rally was held on 1st July - the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in the USA. The Stonewall Riots, or Stonewall Uprising, was a night of action among New York's LGBT community following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, and the rough handling of many patrons at the hands of the police.
Multimedia
