I might be gay and mixed-race, but I'd still be horrified if Ukip was banned from LGBT Pride
The march is about politics, but not the sort that excludes people based on their beliefs
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Your support makes all the difference.Given my homosexuality, ethnicity, and total disdain for Ukip, it might come as a surprise that I think they should be allowed to join this year’s London LGBT Pride. Since their application to send members was accepted, there has been a considerable backlash from the LGBT community and its allies towards the event's organisers – shouldn't I be joining them?
The answer is no: I completely refuse to. The day we start to ban legitimate political parties from public events is a dangerous one. Rightly or wrongly, Ukip secured just under 4m votes at last month’s UK General Election. With these numbers, many LGBT people will have voted for the party and its leader.
The LGBT community should rise up, and be bigger than hate and intolerance. This means allowing Ukip to march, and being graceful about it. We have to show others that as LGBT people we are truly about inclusiveness and not exclusiveness, or it undermines our fight.
I have much of the same contempt for Ukip as I do for other British political parties, but I’m yet to hear any of them being banned from such celebrations of our way of life. I was at Birmingham Pride just a couple of weekends ago, and wouldn't be at all surprised if out of the many people there, there were some who support Ukip. Did it stop those who don’t support the party from having a good time though? No. Unless Ukip is promising to actually harm us – which they're not – they should be allowed to participate in London.
Pride is about politics, but not this sort. Many forget that the first pride was actually a riot. People demanded that their voices as LGBT people were heard, and came out to show they weren't ashamed of who they were. They accepted everyone – they didn't exclude people because of their political beliefs, even if they clashed with their own.
If the London Pride Board rescinds Ukip’s right to march, then this will be a sad day for our democracy and cause. Let them attend, and give people the chance to engage with them, and have a dialogue. If you really disagree with someone, this is the best chance you have to change their minds – in other words, treating them like humans.
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