‘I can’t get sponsorship’- why UK LGBT Pride events are disappearing

Sharan Dhaliwal, 41, knows what growing up without LGBTQ+ Pride is like.

The founder of South Asian magazine Burnt Roti spent her childhood between the London suburbs of Southall and Hounslow.

Neither offered much queer representation, so she didn’t even associate being LGBTQ+ with herself until she came out aged 32.

This is why Sharan founded Middlesex Pride in 2019, so that no one across the former county ever has a childhood like hers.

‘Maybe I would have come out earlier if Middlesex Pride was around when I was young,’ Sharan tells Metro.

‘I would have gone there, would have had a queer family.

‘We’ve had people crying with happiness at Middlesex Pride. We’re a largely ethnic area – South Asian and Black Caribbean – who really appreciate the space.’

Around 200 Pride events are taking place this year, according to the Gay Pride Shop, 20 more than in 2024.

But Middlesex Pride may not be one of them, as organisers are coming close to calling off the main event held in Gunnersbury Park on July 27.

The reason is simple – money. The grassroots event costs £8,000 to pull off, financed by sponsors and funding bodies.

‘Sponsorship has very much disappeared,’ Sharan said.

‘Even the usual sponsors that email us going, “we want to get involved,” have gone silent. One funding body said no to us because we’re pro-Palestinian and asked us to remove the pro-Palestinian messaging from our 2024 Pride manifesto.’

Last year’s manifesto said: ‘Middlesex Pride stands in solidarity with Palestine. Israel has enforced 75 years of apartheid upon Palestine, and are currently committing genocide in Gaza.’

Even when they considered removing it, ‘the sponsor said, “we won’t give you money anyway because you’re too political”,’ Sharan said.

‘We just didn’t realise how big the problem would be. We got almost zero funding from funding bodies, and we applied to everything.

‘With everything happening with trans rights, too, it seems no one wants to take a side.’

A fundraiser was set up last week, with the goal of £8,000 by next Wednesday to secure the venue. As of Sunday, £1,500 was raised.

‘If I’m being realistic, 10 days to raise the money isn’t enough, we’ll have to cancel it,’ Sharan said. ‘We’re just doing one last push because we don’t want to give up.

‘Even if Pride doesn’t happen, we’ll have a free picnic and people can turn up with their blankets.’

Middlesex Pride isn’t alone. Pride in Liverpool, attended by 75,000 people, won’t happen this year, with organisers citing funding issues and time crunches as why.

Sharan, however, is more worried about smaller LGBTQ+ events cancelling, given the lifeline they offer rural queer communities.

This includes Batt Close Pride, the ‘world’s smallest Pride’. Since 2019, some 80 people have marched 80 metres through the Rochberie Heights development in Rugby.

Ben Goodwin, a former resident who founded the Pride with his partner, confirmed to Metro that the event isn’t happening this year.

‘I will remember it for the rest of my life,’ he said. ‘Many of us have moved away now and while it is sad it has come to an end, I’m proud and impressed with how it all came together.

‘What was special about Batley Close Pride was its organic nature. Everybody on the road was part of it and this added to the sense of community.’

Local authorities need to rescue Pride events, no matter how small, Ben said, adding: ‘Pride is a reminder of the real and lifelong struggles we still face.’

The UK was once the most LGBTQ+ friendly in Europe, ranking number one on the Rainbow Map from 2011 to 2015. This year, it ranked 22nd.

Map-maker ILGA-Europe told Metro that April’s ruling by the Supreme Court on the definition of ‘woman’ is among the reasons why the UK has fallen. Major Pride organisations, meanwhile, have even banned political parties from marching for not backing trans rights.

Nik Jovčić-Sas, 33, said Pride organisers will face increasing difficulties as the far-right surges in the UK. He founded the first Pride event in Midsomer Norton, a former coal-mining town, which was also the first Pride in Northeast Somerset.

‘For smaller Prides and local queer events, the retreat of major corporate sponsorship doesn’t hit as hard – these events are usually supported by local councils, community groups and small businesses,’ the violinist, drag queen and self-described ‘vampire’ tells Metro.

‘But where we are feeling the shift is in the rising visibility of far-right and fascist rhetoric.’

Figures like Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and US President Donald Trump are ’emboldening’ people to voice anti-LGBTQ+ hatred, he adds.

For Sharan, it’s trans people who especially feel the impact of this.

‘They’re finding it difficult to speak to anyone about their identity outside these safe spaces,’ she said of Pride events. ‘Without these smaller events, trans people will become more isolated.’

She worries that figures around trans people’s mental health – that two-thirds have experienced depression – will only increase.

And that includes her team.

‘We’re a team of queer people, trans people, people of colour, sitting here asking,’ Sharan said, ‘”Does anyone give a sh*t?”‘

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.