Pride in London apologises and removes ‘misjudged’ content after campaign receives backlash for straight bias
Pride in London, the city’s platform tasked with running the annual LGBT+ festival, has issued an apology after its latest poster campaign drew criticism for featuring plentiful quotes from straight people while neglecting the views of the trans community.
Pride in London takes down four of its posters
Love Happens Here was devised by WCRS to celebrate the ‘largest and most vibrant pride ever’, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of parliament voting to start legalising homosexuality.
The campaign includes posters featuring real-life messages regarding the LGBT+ experience, however Twitter users have questioned how much space the creative dedicates to the views of straight Londoners. Pictures posted by Pride in London on Twitter include lines such as: 'I’m a straight man with gay pride!', ‘My gay friends make me more attractive by association' and 'People think I’m gay which I think is cool'.
The creative led Innes McKendrick to question on the platform: “Why is London Pride all about straight people?”, adding: “About half the posters mention straight people, but not a single one mentions trans people".
WHY IS LONDON PRIDE ALL ABOUT STRAIGHT PEOPLE pic.twitter.com/0oKo1wJYsa
— innes mckendrick (@innesmck) June 29, 2017
Pride has since issued a statement, admitting it “misjudged” the content of some of the messages, “undermining the individuality, importance, and dignity of the LGBT+ community”.
A spokesperson from the association said: “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.”
They added: "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.
"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."
The campaign's other messages include: 'I walked hand in hand with my date, not worrying what people thought of me' and 'London, Lez we can!'