Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 09:21:21 +0100 From: s-coote@dircon.co.uk (Stephen Coote) Subject: LONDON PRIDE pr News from the GAY to Z DIRECTORY - the UK's Gay Phonebook - www.gaytoz.com London Pride March to go ahead on 4 July Volunteer Stewards needed urgently, call 0171 336 8860 Pride Festival postponed to 15 August, see: http://www.pride98.dircon.co.uk ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The GAY to Z has received this letter from Paul Craig, March Community Co-ordinator, c/o Stonewall, 16 Clerkenwell Close, London EC1R 0AA. Tel 0171 608 2206 (dedicated March Committee information line), Tel 0171 336 8860 (main Stonewall switchboard), and fax 0171 336 8864: March will go ahead on 4 July - Pride reclaimed by the community. The 1998 London Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride is to go ahead, as planned, on 4 July - but under new management. A decision to hold the event as usual was taken after the company behind the 1998 Pride Festival at Clapham Common announced a last-minute postponement because of contractual and financial difficulties, The private company, Pride Events UK ltd, hopes to reschedule the festival for 15 August. Representatives from more than thirty gay organisations met at Stonewall last night and voted unanimously to continue with the Pride March - which will now be entirely community owned and managed, with assistance from Pride Events UK ltd. The march will be managed by the Pride March Committee, which holds open meetings which any gay organisation or interested parties can attend. It has a full-time co-ordinator thanks to a generous donation from Gay Times and Diva magazines. This, the 27th London gay pride march, will go ahead thanks to further substantial donations from the Pink Paper newspaper and Boyz magazine and UNISON. Three hundred stewards will be enlisted and trained in the next 10 days; they will all be volunteers but will each receive a valuable G.A.Y. nightclub discount entry card (5 pounds Saturdays, free all other nights). We need volunteers to be stewards in order that the march can go ahead. If you can help please contact the Stonewall office on 0171 336 8860. Pride March Committee co-ordinator, Paul Craig, said: " The March will be dedicated to the abolition of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988. It will be inclusive, informal, high-spirited, political and a celebration of life and diversity. We are also going to have a bloody good time. Last year saw 100,000 marchers taking part, making Europe's biggest gay street event. There will be organised banners by different parts of the community on the march, including Disabled Gays and Lesbians section, Women's section, a Transgender section, a Bisexual section, a People of Colour section, a Youth Section, a Time of Remembrance organised by the Terrence Higgins Trust, and a giant Freedom Flag organised by the Pride Arts Festival." The march assembles in South Carriage Drive, Hyde Park at 11am on Saturday 4 July and follows a route to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Parliament Square and Victoria, An information line has been opened on 0171 608 2206. Refunds for festival tickets: call 0115 912 9190. The Pride March Committee's website http://www.pride98.dircon.co.uk will continue to publish all march-related news as it is released, and provide authoritative, rumour-free information. ends The GAY to Z Internet Site is being re-launched in July. A test version, including information on over 4000 gay and gay-friendly UK businesses and organisations, is at http://www.gaytoz.com Stephen Coote ------------------------------------------------- GAY to Z - UK's Gay Phonebook - http://www.gaytoz.com GAY DATA - http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~s-coote 41 Cook's Road, Kennington, London, SE17 3NG Tel +44 171 793 7450, Fax +44 171 820 1366 -------------------------------------------------