Cross-dressed LGBT members cosy up to Met Police in Gay Pride march

Members of Rainbow Hamlets clad in their best party frocks ‘cosied up’ to police officers at this year’s Gay Pride parade through London’s West End.

Rainbow Hamlets volunteers and their classic Routemaster in the Gay Pride parade - Credit: TH Council

More than 40 volunteers from the East London gay movement joined the parade in a classic Routemaster double-decker paid for by Tower Hamlets Council as a gesture of solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

“Pride may just seem to be a chance for a party,” Rainbow Hamlets director Jack Gilbert said. “But at its heart, it is about liberation.”

Meanwhile, 50 officers and staff from the Met Police took part in the parade to promote reporting of hate crime and to prevent domestic violence.

The Met’s Tower Hamlets Hate Crime liaison officer Lee Hawkins said: “We are working to recognise equality, fairness and acceptance and are committed to tackle hate crime in all forms, to ensure the East End is no place for hate.”

The Met’s entry out of more than 250 entries in Saturday’s central London parade won ‘crowd favourite’ award from the festival organisers. Their float was an operational police vehicle with its blue lights shining to help make the 50 members of the Met’s own LGBT group stand out who were walking the route.