Pride brings colour and crowds to Newcastle streets
But some saw fit to carp
The sky might have been drab but the streets certainly weren’t after the Newcastle Pride parade smothered them with rainbow hues.
Photographer David Whinham was there on Friday and Saturday (July 24 and 25) to capture an occasion which celebrates both difference and unity.
On the face of it, that might seem paradoxical but it’s not really.
We’re all a bit different, absolutely all of us, but that shouldn’t – and doesn’t – prevent us coming together for a good time. And certainly it should be no ground for hostility or persecution.
David followed the Saturday parade from the Civic Centre to Grey’s Monument, recording the fact that many participants had not dressed what you might call formally for the occasion.
If you happened to have a multi-coloured waistcoat in your wardrobe, a flamboyant hat or something with sequins and feathers, this was the time to give it an airing.
The theme was City of Hope, Streets of Joy and that was borne out over the Pride weekend with an estimated 8,000 turning out on Saturday.
Reports filtered back to Cultured North East of hundreds at the Theatre Royal, home once again of the Family & Youth Zone (activities galore), and of moments of peaceful reflection at Newcastle Cathedral.
A contemplative prayer trail was co-created with Newcastle Diocese’s LGBTQI+ Chaplaincy as part of a commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion, welcome and belonging.
Dame Kelly Holmes, double Olympic gold medal winner, was in Newcastle to start the Pride Run in Leazes Park on Friday and stuck around for the parade, where she took the microphone to speak up for those who might feel marginalised.
Looking at the “glow” and the “sparkle” around her, she urged: “Don’t let anyone ever dampen that fire.”
There seemed no danger of that in Times Square where a succession of musical and drag acts on the main stage included Nadine Coyle, Urban Cookie Collective and drag acts Danny Beard and Bimini.
This year’s Newcastle Pride was run under the auspices of Curious Arts with the blessing of Northern Pride which firmly established the event before being wound up last year.
Phil Douglas, chief executive of Curious Arts, said £10,000 had been raised to ensure the event went ahead in the face of rising costs and reduced sponsorship.
But he deemed it a success, telling the BBC the Newcastle event had brought “a huge surge” from the community.
“People have really turned up to support,” he added.
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness gave the word ‘pride’ its broadest definition, declaring: “What a demonstration of our pride as a city, our pride as a region!”
It did seem to run smoothly, following earlier Pride celebrations in Durham, Sunderland and Hartlepool, all of which suggests there’s little danger of Dame Kelly’s fire being dampened any time soon.
However, events elsewhere underlined the dangers that exist for those prepared to parade for Pride.
Izzy McDonald-Booth, volunteer chaplain with Newcastle Diocese’s LGBTQI+ Chaplaincy, led prayers for the victims of the attack on the Berlin Pride parade where one person was killed and others injured.
And Newcastle City Council put out the following message in the wake of the weekend event.
As Geordies, we are so proud of our reputation across the world. Friendly, decent people. Neighbours who regard every stranger as a friend.
When we travel anywhere, it fills us with pride when someone comments on our accent, our football club, our night life. It makes us happy when they say the Toon has such a good soul.
Do you know what we’re not known for? Hatred and division. But that’s what we have seen more and more across comments on our social media pages.
We have just celebrated Pride in Newcastle with thousands bringing colour, love and celebration to the streets of our city centre – and not least a big economic boost for businesses.
Our Cabinet, led by Deputy Leader Cllr Mark Mitchell, were front and centre at the celebrations and early in their administration made the decision to fly the Rainbow flag with pride at the Civic Centre.
The majority were really positive on social media following Pride weekend, but amid the engagement we saw discrimination, bigotry and hate from a small minority. Often those accounts had no connection to our city, our country and many we suspect to be fake accounts.
We see similar comments when we post about support for other minority communities, or when we post anything around housing or waste services.
The usual typical misinformation or discriminatory tropes published by a conspiracy theorist on some other digital platform. Sometimes this misinformation spreads and is perpetuated by larger citizen “journalists”.
The council has no role in housing asylum seekers, we aren’t responsible for hotels, we don’t give our freebies to “boat people”, LGBTQ+ residents are not all weirdos or paedophiles and we’re not going to tear down your England flags.
We won’t shut down legitimate concerns but there is a line. A post about refugee school children helping in the community for example, will never be the place for racist comments or misinformation.
This isn’t censorship. It is about respect, decency and being inclusive.
Every resident deserves to be able to engage with our content and celebrate the warm and friendly place this city is known for, without fearing that the comment section will be full of bigotry and discrimination.
We have long challenged such comments, we delete those that cross the line, and we correct misinformation. Fake accounts will be removed, repeat offenders will be blocked.
Our social media policy is in the comments below but our position is clear. Newcastle is the best city in the world. Geordies are the friendliest people in the land.
We are a city of black and white. Nobody will be made to feel unwelcome.
David Whinham’s photographs capture the good side, the attitude of ‘live and let live’, but every coin has two sides, as that statement suggests.
And in response to a Facebook suggestion that there be a “straight festival”, the council gave the following response.
We see this comment an awful lot but nobody has planned one, funded it or contacted the council to arrange it.
We didn’t plan Pride, it was organised independently and has grown in size for years.
We’re unsure what injustice a straight pride would be looking to address but we’re sure any organisers could articulate that.
Time will tell if any come forward.
In the meantime, Newcastle Pride – at the very least – did nobody any harm. A lot of people had a good time and will have made new friends, and that’s a strong argument for its continued success.