Pride in London 1975

From the collection of

London’s Screen Archives is a network of over 50 organisations with a collective vision – to preserve and share London’s history on film. The network is managed by Film London and we work with our partners to digitise, preserve, and offer access to their moving image collections.

Pride in London 1975

London’s Screen Archives
Shepherd's Bush
1975-06-01
Silent

This short film captures brief scenes from the 1975 UK Gay Pride event held at Shepherds Bush Green. The yellow Ford Capri plastered in pink streamers and balloons encapsulates the fun side of Pride but the event still had very serious political overtones. The camera pans to reveal a sea of supporting crowds. Then, a mix of face paints and fancy dresses, high heels and roller skates - couples very much in love.

Queer Britain

This colourful and challenging collection explores screen representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives over the past century.

British cinema boasts a long history of carefully coded queerness, but for much of the 20th century explicit depictions of gay life in drama or documentary were more or less taboo. Gay men were subject to vicious state-sanctioned persecution, while lesbians were socially ostracised and the transgender community ignored and misunderstood. Cinematic and small-screen breakthroughs in the 1950s and 60s played their part in the public debate. Finally acting on the recommendations of the Wolfenden Committee a decade earlier, the 1967 Sexual Offences Act partially decriminalised male homosexuality in England and Wales, between two men over 21, in private. As those caveats suggest, the legislation remained problematic. But it was a step forward, paving the way for further battles - some yet to be won. From early glimpses of 'queer' characters, this collection charts the path towards '67 and beyond, through responses to the AIDS crisis to diverse reflections on queer life today.