Pride is a positive stance against discrimination and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) people to promote their self-affirmation, dignity, equality rights, increase their visibility as a social group, build community, and celebrate sexual diversity and gender variance. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT+ rights movements throughout the world.
Bristol Pride is also a chance to celebrate our community. Organised by members of the LGBT+ community Pride is the chance for all LGBT+ people, their friends, families and allies to stand up and declare they are proud of who they are and their loved ones.
Bristol Pride is a registered charity (1166817) organised by volunteers from the community. We work all year round to challenge homophobia and promote equality and diversity, for all, through various events, school visits, consultation services and lobbying – check out our Project Work page for more info.
As an organisation our mission is to focus on these issues:
Community
To bring the community together to celebrate, create understanding, opportunities for engagement and to tackle discrimination. We also want to create safe and positive events and opportunities for younger people to connect with the established community
Social
To challenge hearts and minds and to be a beacon of positive social diversity both here in the UK and for those 77 countries where it is still illegal to be LGBT
Political
To not only help shape policy and procedure but to engage in the local and wider political landscape to not only further but to also maintain human right for LGBT communities everywhere
Bristol Pride is an annual free festival held in the heart of Bristol to celebrate the LGBT communities. We believe Pride should remain a free and accessible event for all to attend, not just those that can afford it, to ensure we reach all of the community and promote social cohesion. We do this (and can only do this) by working with our sponsors and partners to help fund the festival, by asking for your kind donations and working long hours as unpaid volunteers. We don’t get funding so without your support we will have to make Pride a charging event so please get a supporter wristband if you can.
As Pride is free and we are a not-for-profit organisation we don’t make money (that’s not what Pride is about) and rely on a lot of goodwill from artists, performers and you. Your donations and support enable Pride to happen, support our year round work challenging homophobia in schools, prisons and whoever else will have us, and every year we support a charity or community group who have similar goals in the area, by giving them what we can.
Who We Are:
There are a lot of people involved in making Pride happen, from venue owners and the staff asking their businesses to get involved right through to directors and business owners keen to show their support, pride and commitment to equality and diversity in Bristol.
Pride is organised by volunteers from LGBT Bristol who bring along their skills, experience and passion to Pride in between their day jobs.