Story

Ugandan Asylum Seekers March at London Pride

July 05, 2015 | Pulitzer Center
By
Daniella Zalcman

Members of Out & Proud line up on Baker Street before the start of the parade. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

Out & Proud co-founder Abbey Kiwanuka dances at the start of the parade route. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

London Pride. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

A Schnauzer named Daphne joined in the march. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

While most of the groups marching in London Pride were greeted by raucous cheers and shrieking from the crowd, Out & Proud's members and their banners were frequently met with a round of applause. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

The march began with a Olympics-style parade of flags.
Photo by Daniella Zalcman. 2015.

LGBT* in UKIP members stand poised on Oxford Street, moments before they broke through the barriers onto the parade route.
Photo by Daniella Zalcman. 2015.

A parade organizer pauses the parade to negotiate with LGBT* in UKIP members, who had originally been banned from the event.
Photo by Daniella Zalcman. 2015.

Members of Out & Proud pose in front of LGBT* in UKIP while Pride organizers try to figure out what to do with the group. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

London Pride. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

A member of Out & Proud high fives spectators along the route.
Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

Out & Proud's parade banner, as they turn a corner at Oxford Circus. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

Spectators along the parade route. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

London Pride. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

A member of Out & Proud waves a giant Ugandan flag (the organization represents all LGBTI Africans, but the vast majority of the group is Ugandan). Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

London Pride. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

London Pride. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

London Pride. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

LGBT* in UKIP were eventually allowed to rejoin the parade, and completed the march largely peacefully, but at the end of the route were attacked by a group of angry protesters and chased from the scene. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

Another asylum group also marching in London Pride this year.
Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

Members of Out & Proud pose for a group photo at the end of the day. Image by Daniella Zalcman. United Kingdom, 2015.

Members of the Out and Proud Diamond Group, an activism organization that supports African LGBTI asylum seekers in the UK, marched in London Pride on June 27, 2015. Participants held placards commemorating a range of African LGBTI activists and allies, and signs that also thanked the UK for protecting asylum seekers. The march ran from Baker Street to Trafalgar Square and wound along the edge of Soho, which represents the heart of London’s gay rights activism scene.

Just a few blocks into the march, the parade was briefly interrupted when the UK Independence Party’s LGBT group broke through the barricades on Oxford Street and attempted to join the Pride lineup, just in front of Out and Proud. LGBT* in UKIP, as the group is known, had been banned from the march by organizers several weeks before. Ironically, Out and Proud director Edwin Sesange had campaigned passionately for the right-wing group’s right to march. After a brief interaction with one of the event organizers, LGBT* in UKIP were reinserted into the parade further back in the lineup and allowed to complete the march, mostly without incident.