When was Brighton’s first Gay Pride?
Brighton’s first Gay Pride event took place in July 1973. Having organised a Gay Day in 1972, the Sussex Gay Liberation Front arranged a week of events from Tuesday 3 to Sunday 8 July 1973. We knew Brighton Gay Pride began in 1973 from newspaper cuttings and archival records, but as far as anyone was aware there were absolutely no photographs of the event, by anyone, at all.
Everything changed in the summer of 2021, as Tina from Gay Brighton Past explains:
“While searching through the negatives of the Argus Photographic Archive I found a small brown packet with the details ‘Gay Lib March 8/7/73’ written in blue biro. Viewing the images was like holding hands across time with those who were activists before us and reopening long unspoken stories, seen again in modern light.”
In case you were wondering, Tina and I set up the Facebook group Gay Brighton Past: Our Velvet Vault of Memories in 2021, before we were aware of these photographs. The group was partly a response to lockdown, but also we wanted a space to share and cherish memories and ephemera related to Brighton & Hove’s LGBTIQ+ history, without the tiresome ‘jokes’ and ‘banter’ frequently experienced in non-queer online history groups.
Anywaaaaaay, because Tina knew her local history, she realised exactly how special that little envelope of negatives were! I then re-checked The Argus and Brighton & Hove Gazette newspapers for that weekend in 1973, as well as the week after, and there was no sign of the photographs. It seems they had never been used. This would explain why no one knew of their existence beforehand. It also meant that pretty much no-one had ever seen them.
Exhibition
There were only seven negatives in the envelope, but we wanted everyone to have the chance to enjoy the pictures. With the usual parade and park events not taking place for Pride in 2021, we decided that an exhibition of these images was an alternative way we could mark the occasion.
The panels were designed for free by Fraser Dickson, the Rainbow Fund paid for the panels to be printed, and the Sussex Beacon very kindly let us display them in the windows of their St James’ Street shop. They were up throughout August, the month that Pride usually happens in Brighton.
These photos are a key piece of our history that up until recently have been missing, even though we never knew it. Now we can actually see some of the brave individuals who started the fight for LGBTIQ+ rights in our very own city.
Their importance was recognised locally – making the front cover of Brighton’s LGBTQ+ Gscene magazine – and it was also reported nationally by the BBC and other outlets.
Where are the 1973 Brighton Pride photographs now?
Following on from the exhibition at the Sussex Beacon, the three panels spent a couple of weeks in the Studio of Nick Ford Photography. As well as being able to see the images up close, Nick reported that a couple of community groups visited and used them as an aid to discussing social history from a local perspective.
When the Ledward Centre opened in Jubilee Street in 2022, it seemed a very suitable and central location for the panels to live at for the foreseeable future. And that’s where they remain. They spent some time on display downstairs, but have now been moved up into the foyer area.
I believe the intention is for them to move back downstairs once that area has been fitted out. Either way, they are free to visit any time the centre is open.
Images of Brighton Pride in 1973 remain the copyright of Andy Garth, Brighton & Hove Stuff and the Argus Photographic Archive.
