PRIDE is about “liberation for all” and not “capitalising on the big pound,” the TUC LGBT conference heard yesterday. 

Speaking to a motion on reclaiming Pride from corporations, RMT union’s Alice, who only wished to share her first name, said it was “frustrating” that companies continue to sponsor Pride events as “cheap advertising space and money-grabbing opportunities” over meaningful support for LGBT+ people.

“Primark, H&M and Levi’s routinely face criticism for their temporary Pride ranges,” she told delegates.

“They claim to support LGBT people and charities, but choose to have their products manufactured in countries like India and Bangladesh, where homosexuality is criminalised.”

Alice also highlighted how Manchester Pride went into voluntary liquidation last year, leaving more than 180 performers and venues out of pocket and owing approximately £1.3 million in debt, and criticised the British LGBT Awards for corporate partnerships with BP.

She said: “Such affiliations use the LGBT+ community to soften their public image without making structural or ethical changes. 

“Meanwhile, a lot of these businesses are doing nothing to improve the lives of LGBT+ people.

“Some abandoned queer partnerships at the first sign of criticism from the right. Pride should be about queer liberation for all, not just capitalising on the big pound. 

“We cannot continue to let brands hand into one part of the LGBTQIA+ community, while participating in the exploitation of another.”

Maria Buck of FBU said: “Pride did not begin as a parade. It began as resistance. 

“Pride is not a branding opportunity. It’s not a tick-box exercise. Pride is a protest. 

“And in today’s climate, with increasing hostility, attacks on protests, rights, and the very real rollback of protections, particularly for our trans colleagues, that protest has never been more important.”