Pride event 'bigger and better' after controversy

A Pride event has celebrated its "biggest" year ever, its lead organiser has said, despite controversy over a council withdrawing funding.

Durham Pride was held in the city centre and The Sands on Saturday, with chairman Mel Metcalf saying the event went "absolutely amazingly well".

The Reform UK-led council council did not contribute £2,500 previously given to the event, with deputy leader Darren Grimes saying the local authority "isn't an ATM for contested causes" and the money would be diverted to key services.

Trade unions said they would back the event and raised about £25,000 alongside public fundraising, according to Metcalf.

Grimes previously said the event "stopped being a celebration of gay rights a long time ago" and "will not get a single penny from this council".

He said it "morphed into a travelling billboard for gender ideology and political activism that many in the gay community - myself included - want no part of".

"Our residents deserve bins emptied, roads fixed and services funded - not more council-sponsored politics in fancy dress," he said.

Metcalf called this an "excuse", citing £12,000 being spent by the council on a St George's Cross-themed roundabout surrounded by golden gravel.

However, he said they would not have accepted money because of the party's stance on trans issues.

Metcalf said the Pride event was "more important in Durham than it has ever been".

"On social media in particular, people say some horrible, dreadful things. The abuse we've received on our pages has been off the map this year - as volunteers, it's very difficult to take."

He said two volunteers, aged 19 and 21, told him they would not wear their rainbow colours while travelling into the city because they felt "unsafe".

"After 14 years [of Durham Pride], I hoped people could travel full of colour and celebration, but within a year, the younger people are saying they don't feel as safe as they did - that's sad as a gay man and an organiser of an inclusive event."

However, he said he also felt "proud" to see support for the event, such as from the unions, including the Durham Miners' Association.

Metcalf said controversy over the withdrawal of council funding, as well as criticism over a Pride flag being removed at the County Hall, had increased the publicity and budget of the event.

He said: "That £2,500 never funded Pride, it was to say we are an inclusive council that respects our community who happen to also be taxpayers.

"We will always have a Pride, no matter what - what that looks like will depend on the circumstances. But this year, because of people stepping up, we went bigger and better."

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