I don't think I care for London's new mayor too much......

from Guardian UK:



Boris: not proud of Pride
However many pink Stetsons he dons, London's mayor is clearly not a supporter of the capital's homosexual and transgender population

Richard Adam Smith
guardian.co.uk, Monday August 11 2008 15:00 BST



When Boris Johnson, mayor of London, led the Pride London parade in July, it was seen by many as a defining moment in David Cameron's attempts to rebrand the Conservative party as no more the "nasty party". A photo of Boris grinning with a drag queen threatens to become as much of a cliche of multicultural London as one of a police officer dancing with a black woman at Notting Hill carnival. Look, the Tories really do love the gays!

Mayor Johnson may not be so welcome at Soho Pride, on Sunday 17 August. Organisers are furious that they were only informed that the mayor's office are withdrawing £10,000 in funding a few weeks before the event is due to take place. They have written to the mayor asking that the decision be reconsidered and explaining that this could mean the end of Soho Pride. They are still waiting for a reply.

Soho Pride is not alone – it is just one of more than 20 community festivals in London which are now under threat, from Chinese New Year to Black History Month and St Patrick's Day. Johnson had said before the mayoral election that he though such events should be funded "with private cash, rather than public funds". Some might think this is a good idea in theory, but it's hard to see how it would be workable for many of them in practice.

Soho Pride was started in 2002, as a free street party in the "gay village" around Old Compton Street. At that time, Pride London was in the doldrums, due to a series of bad decisions, including its cancellation in 1998, its being renamed "Mardi Gras", a separation of the march from the park events afterwards, the introducing of admission charges at the parks, and the dominance of corporate sponsorship. Though this would appear to be the kind of business model Johnson favours, people voted with their feet, and there was a dramatic decline in attendance. But Soho Pride was an instant success – perhaps because it felt like a real community event, even if it was catering mainly for "the communities of the night" of London's gay bar and club scenes. Numbers – which have topped 80,000 – began to rival that of Pride London. Boris may have signed its death warrant. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/11/boris.gayrights