Cardiff Pride 2023

By John Williams

Thousands marched in the streets of Cardiff for Pride Cymru 2023.  Everyone would agree that it was a vibrant, joyous event, where everyone could be themselves and celebrate the gains made for the LGBTQ+ community in previous years, but there’s still work to be done. With the conservative government still refusing to ban conversion therapy, and Rishi Sunak and government ministers talking about possible new legislation that amounts to a new section 28 for trans rights, plus with transphobic hate crimes on the rise, Pride needs to be an all-inclusive event that allows for maximum participation.

But its very clear that many Pride events, including the ones in Wales have been completely commercialised- you have to pay to go on the march and the event itself! £15 for a standard ticket or an accessible ticket, and £30 for a VIP ticket. The VIP ticket includes a free drink and access to luxury toilets. With the cost of living crisis, many people would not have been able to afford to go on the event to celebrate their identity and get involved. Even worse, they charged hundreds of pounds for organisations to go onto the march, who were able to go on the front of the march! This included private companies such as supermarkets. This is in great contrast to the first Pride Cymru event, the Cardiff Mardi Gras as it was known back then, a free event which took place in Bute Park, Cardiff, in September 1999 as a response to an increase in hate crime in South Wales.

The Socialist Party LGBTQ+ caucus have always made the point that Pride should be political, as it has been historically. Our placards demanding equal access to public services for all, to stop the cuts and properly fund trans services went down well. We were also bringing up the strike wave that’s hit Britain, making the point that if we all strike and unite together to fight for pay rises and to fight oppression and discrimination, we can struggle for LGBTQ+ liberation. Our main demand on getting the Tories out were popular, and people were agreeing with us that that the government want to use the issue of trans rights in the next election to try to soak division in communities. No one thought that Starmers Labour was going to stand shoulder to shoulder with trans people, as shown when just 11 Labour MPs broke rank and went against Keir Starmer by voting to oppose the Government blocking Scotland’s landmark gender reforms.

However, despite the obvious anger that pride is now seen as a money-making scheme, many working class, campaigners and trade unionists still felt it necessarily to participate, which was good to see. As was shown through the miners’ strike and the group knows as Gays and Lesbians support the miners the tory government and the right-wing media will attempt to use divide and rule, that everyone’s interests are somehow in conflict. To cut across that, and fight for LGBTQ+ liberation, we need a mass movement to defend those rights. And a new party that stands in solidarity for all those fighting for LGBTQ+ rights and against capitalism around the world.