Pride and Joy: the organisers of Nottingham Pride talk parades, protest, and vital services come together at the festival

“We’re here, we’re bolder, we’re brighter and we’re visible,” says Leigh Ellis, chairperson for Notts Pride, as we sat down to discuss this year’s celebrations and why they are more important than ever. “We spend too long asking for permission, and we shouldn’t be. We’re part of Nottingham and we contribute to it, and we have the right to celebrate that.”

With roots all the way back to 1997, Pride in Nottingham has had homes on Broad Street, Nottingham Castle, Victoria Embankment, Forest Rec, and the Arboretum. Under the new committee formed in 2013, Notts Pride was brought back to its original home in Broad Street – a deliberate move to honour its history.

“Broad Street is steeped in LGBTQ+ history,” says Leigh. “It was a place of sanctuary for people that were affected by HIV and AIDs, right up until the late 2000s, before Healthy Day Nottingham was closed down and it became the Centre for Transgender Health.”

“We wanted to make that part of the history for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire,” Leigh continues. “And that wasn't an easy feat, but our hope was that as a result of bringing Pride back into the area, we'd start to see local grassroots events, organisations start to emerge from that. There are more support groups at a grassroots level now – more people wanting to get involved in Pride.”

This year's theme – ‘Bolder and Brighter’ – ties in to Notts Pride’s key pillars of visibility, education and celebration. Leigh tells us how these manifest as part of their plans each year.

“Visibility speaks for itself – our iconic Pride march. We get thousands of people marching. We often have people already at the stage area while people are waiting to move at the back of the march!”

“The education element was never intended to educate people about LGBTQ+ life, it’s about specific education for our LGBTQ+ community,” Leigh continues. “We want them to know what support is out there and available to them. We have over sixty stalls at our market covering everything from education and employment, to adoption and mental health support. We want to make sure that we cover the breadth of what’s available to people.”

Education at Pride holds a personal significance for Leigh. “When I went to Pride in 2011, I didn’t know that we were in a position where LGBTQ+ couples could adopt, and that set us on our own adoption journey. I was really, really grateful to that. And I just really wanted to pay that back.”

“And celebration, of course, is our Pride stage,” Leigh says. “It’s about bringing the community together and celebrating in difficult times, as we are in now. One thing we've always been good at is celebrating – ourselves, our fabulous performers, our drag queens, and those people who are allies to us.”

Paying for Pride has become a contentious topic in recent years, with many objecting to putting a price tag on the celebrations. So, how important is it to Notts Pride that the event remains free?

“For me, it's essential,” says Leigh. “Your financial status shouldn't determine whether you can attend and join a Pride event. That is really hard to keep going in this current climate. We never know whether we're going to get the funding, the sponsorship, the support to do that. But again – it's one of our key pillars: to keep it free for people in Nottingham, while we have the responsibility for Nottingham Pride.”

In keeping Pride free for everyone, there’s a careful balance of getting enough sponsorship to make the event happen versus keeping Pride authentic and community-focussed.

“Sometimes you think, how will we do it this year?” says Leigh. “How do we get people the opportunity to have their voices heard, and how are we going to afford to do that? It always causes a few sleepless nights.”

When looking at sponsors for Pride, the committee is careful about choosing organisations to be involved. “We really only want sponsors that are in the area that support the local economy and employment, and that have staff network groups in place,” says Leigh. “We look at what goes on throughout the year in terms of their social responsibility within Nottingham.”

“We limit it in terms of the amount of sponsorship we ask for,” Leigh continues. “So we’re not in a position where we’re selling credit cards or having flags with bank logos. But you have to draw a balance – otherwise we end up in a position where we can’t deliver an event that’s safe for people. And it’s really important that people feel safe. There’s a lot of infrastructure work that goes on behind the scenes – we literally have to shut the city down – to keep everyone safe and keep the key essence of protest.”

“Some people ask me, do we still need Pride? Because, yes, there’s lots of equalities and things we can do now that we couldn’t back in the 1980s. But I always tell this story of being in a march in 1992. I always remember catching the eye of one person, and his look just said: ‘you people are disgusting’. It stays with me forever.”

“So when people ask me if we still need Pride, I say take a look at the comments whenever Notts Pride is announced. They’re exactly the same as the comments made in 1992. It hasn’t changed. There are still people that feel that way. And that’s why it’s really important that visibility is key, that people are seen.”

“As we move towards the thirtieth anniversary of Pride in Nottingham, we really want to capture that history. It’s not an easy journey, it can be messy – you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and get in there. That’s what we’re trying to do. The intention of Notts Pride is about our history, what’s happening now, and our future.”

Notts Pride takes place on Saturday 25 July. The parade starts at midday at Listergate. Celebrations continue in Sneinton Market, with various other events happening at Hockley venues and beyond. 

nottspride.co.uk