Every year in June the calendars are taken over and Pride month is officially in full swing. Originally held in New York to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots – a milestone in LGBTQ+ history in which protesters fought back after a vicious attack on the gay venue the Stonewall Inn – the first ever Gay Pride march, Christopher Street Liberation Day, the first took place in 1970. Since then, Pride has grown into a global movement aimed at celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and drawing attention to persistent inequality and discrimination.
London’s Pride parade traditionally takes over Soho and the surrounding areas, just before the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots; this year it will take place on June 29. It attracts an estimated 1.5 million visitors every year and is one of the loudest and proudest parties around, with dozens of floats taking over the streets of central London.
In the run-up to the capital’s biggest party, there are countless other events to delve into. Here’s our pick of some of the best cultural offerings around.
Nesting Dike
Don’t miss the final days of this Deptford exhibition, a solo show by theater designer and artist Daisy Blower. “Nesting Dyke imagines and plays with queer possibilities: what do we build from scratch?” asks Blower in a statement, explaining the meaning behind the show’s tiny houses, which take the form of small, domesticated nests. A subversive alternative to childhood dollhouses, these ‘hurried, fragile structures’ are ‘created according to the whims and fantasies of the moment’.
Salon gallery, until June 8
GRILLS
Attention, queer history buffs, this new play at Camden People’s Theater delves into the under-examined story of Camden Lesbian Center & Black Lesbian Group, founded in 1984 to challenge the homophobia, racism and sexism faced by Black lesbians. Long a forgotten part of LGBTQ+ history (thanks in large part to archives stored 400 miles away in Glasgow), it closed in the 1990s amid a wave of queer venue closures. The story is now being told by self-described “queer nerds.” Vall, Bee, Jaz and Mo.
Camden People’s Theatre, June 4-22
Proud of writing
Now in its fifth year, Pride in Writing will take over Waterstones’ massive Piccadilly flagship for a special event focused on established and emerging LGBTQ+ authors. Grace Curtis, Flora Dunster & Theo Gordon and Will Tosh all appear on a panel dedicated to new queer literary talent, while writers Briony Cameron, Jiaming Tang, Samuel Burr and Phoebe Stuckes appear on Queering the Ages. According to Hachette Pride, there will be everything from space westerns to William Shakespeare and post-socialist China.
Waterstones Piccadilly, June 5
Bishopsgate Institute Archives Tour
A Liverpool Street fixture, the Bishopsgate Institute has painstakingly preserved queer history for the past 125 years – and its wonderful, endlessly knowledgeable staff kindly open their doors for archive tours all year round. But if you’ve never been before, Pride feels like an appropriate time to change that.
Bishopsgate Institute, June 6
Trips
The Kings Head Theater in North Islington puts the spotlight on the best of queer theater all year round, so they naturally keep a close eye on Pride month. In addition to the LGBTQ+ comedy evening Wendy’s House, a ‘sexy rude harp concert’, a dramatized history of drag, and two extremely different queer musicals (one reflecting on the experiences of gay men in post-war Germany, while the other an aspiring diva follows who sells his soul) The new play Outings by Matthew Baldwin and Thomas Hescott presents a collection of coming-out stories on stage.
Kings Head Theatre, June 7, 9, 14, 21 and 28
Pride of the Royal Opera House
Throughout the month of June, the Royal Opera House is paying tribute to the LGBTQ+ creatives who helped shape the ballet and opera institution with a month of special tours, promising to shine a light on everything from ‘groundbreaking composers and choreographers to gender fluid performances throughout our history.”
Royal Opera House, June 8-27
Desire, love, identity: Exploring LGBTQ histories
Anyone up for a treasure hunt? Using their extensive existing collections, the British Museum has put together two different itineraries highlighting various artefacts and objects that share an interesting link with different aspects of LGBTQ+ history. Among the selection you’ll find Sappho and her ancient Greek poems about lesbian desire, a closer look at the story of Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby (two 18th-century women who fled to pursue their dreams together in North Wales) and a once-forbidden Roman wine cup decorated with scenes of male lovers.
British Museum, June 9-29
Pride Panel: Trans Pride and Dyke March in conversation
For the first time in a decade, Dyke March – a loud, proud celebration of queer women and trans and/or non-binary people – is back in the capital, with their march in central London on June 22 as an alternative to grassroots . Proud London. During this fascinating debriefing the next day, organizers Stav B, Shiv and Miggy, together with organizers of fellow grassroots event Trans Pride, will reflect on the importance of Pride as a whole.
Queer Britain, June 23
LGBTQIA+ tours at the Tate
Drawing from their vast collection of classical pieces, Tate Modern and Tate Britain are hosting special LGBTQ+ tours throughout the summer, helping visitors learn more about art “through the lens of gender identity and sexuality.” In other words: the perfect Pride activity for gallery lovers who are interested in a fresh look at art history.
Tate Modern or Tate Britain, all summer long
Too Desi, too strange
As part of the London Indian Film Festival, short film bonanza Too Desi Too Queer showcases important new work that explores the stories and experiences of South Asian LGBTQ+ communities across the subcontinent and the diaspora. This year it brings a selection of short films and documentaries to the Rich Mix in East London.
Rich mix, June 27
Classic pride
As part of the Barbican’s Pride programming, conductor Oliver Zeffman will once again lead an orchestral celebration. Now expanded to a five-day celebration, highlights include the world premiere of a new commission from Fleabag composer Isobel Waller-Bridge, and the incredible-sounding new addition Classical Drag. The latter, taking place at HERE Outernet, will see a number of musically gifted drag artists (including Drag Race alumnus Monét X Change and London drag king favorite Beau Jangles) perform their Philip Glass tribute Violin For Your Life.
Barbakan, July 3-7
London Dyke Market
This community-led exhibition of “Britain’s best dyke artists, writers and makers” takes over Kennington’s reliably brilliant art gallery Space Station Sixty-Five next month; the perfect place to kit out with new clothes for London Trans Pride, Brighton Pride, or even this year’s Christmas presents if you’re that organised.
Space Station Sixty-Five, July 6
Pride tour
Shakespeare’s plays are not only written by one of the world’s best-known playwrights, but are also consistently… quite strange. From the gender-fluid plots of Twelfth Night and As You Like It to the homoerotic subtexts of Mercutio pulling out his ‘gun’, LGBTQ+ undertones run throughout the canon. With their summer-long series of Pride Guided Tours, The Globe delves further into these queer readings of his classic works, exploring what life was like for LGBTQ+ people who visit the historic theater in the Bard’s time.
Shakespeare’s Globe, until October 23