{"id":12830,"date":"2017-07-24T15:35:49","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T14:35:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=12830"},"modified":"2017-07-25T12:29:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T11:29:49","slug":"love-is-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=12830","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Love is love\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

More than 40,000 people attended a Unite-sponsored Gay Pride celebration in Hull \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2017 City of Culture<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c on Saturday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite provided \u00c2\u014117,000 for the festival, which included a massive parade through the city centre and a free concert featuring 80s singer Marc Almond and pop groups Cleopatra and B*Witched.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Around 100 Unite members and volunteers, carrying balloons and rainbow flags, paraded alongside colourful floats dedicated to LGBT<\/a> icons such as Sir Ian McKellen, Tom Daley, Dusty Springfield and Eastenders\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 actress Pam St Clement, who played Pat Butcher.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite construction member Tom Wormleighton, 34, was on the procession with his daughters, Neive, 6, and Holly, 9.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come to show my support and brought the kids down to celebrate as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Tom

Unite construction member Tom Wormleighton with Neive and Holly<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great day out for them but more importantly it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about showing the generations going forward that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing wrong with living life the way you want to live it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Hull

Unite members at Hull Pride 2017<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lizzy Park, 14, was also part of the Unite procession. She decided to join after being invited by a friend from her football club who is a member of the union.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gay and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m proud. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great that Unite are supporting today and that the union is proud to be part of the community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor young people now-a-days it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much easier to be LGBT. The issues are known about and you can be yourself.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Retired Unite member Tristan Alexander agreed. Tristan, who used to work for the Yodel delivery company, has been volunteering at Hull Pride for the last three years with his husband David (both pictured in the main image).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The pair met in a nightclub in London in 1983 and have lived through many watershed moments for the LGBT community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tristan said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe moved to Hull in 2004 and even since then things have changed. Gay people now walk hand-in-hand in Hull, but when we first arrived that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something you would have seen.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Despite progress with LGBT rights and acceptance, however, Tristan said there was still much work to be done.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThings are much better but you know people are still being forced out of their jobs for being gay. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s illegal to sack people because of their sexuality but prejudiced employers find others ways to get rid of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why trade unions have an important role to play in fighting for gay rights in the workplace.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The event is the first time all of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 70 Pride festivals have come together to plan a single national event highlighting the issues affecting the LGBT community.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It marked the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of gay sex when the sexual offences act was passed in 1967.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Legal pardon <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite is calling on the government to institute a legal pardon for all those convicted of homosexual offences, explained LGBT committee chair for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber region, Sharon Wadwell.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wadwell, who was invited by the event\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s organisers to lay a rainbow wreath at Hull\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cenotaph as the parade passed by, said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey should all have a pardon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sharon

Sharon Wadwell, a Unite workplace rep at First Bus company<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt should never have happened in the first place. Love is love \u00e2\u20ac\u201c no matter who you are.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After the parade had finished there was a free concert in Hull\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Queen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Garden. Unite regional administrator, Michela Peters, organised the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stall at the event.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really proud. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m from Hull and I just think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fantastic that as well as being the UK City of Culture we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve hosted the first UK Pride as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Michela

Michela Peters, regional administrator at Unite, Hull<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAll the local branches have been really supportive. The Humber Docks and Waterways branch sponsored the first prize in our raffle, which was a \u00c2\u0141250 P&O voucher.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHull\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Stagecoach branch sponsored the water stations and provided 2000 bottles of water, North East Lincolnshire Council branch provided the Unite headbands and Hull City Council branch provided all the t-shirts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe support has just been brilliant.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional coordinating officer for the Humber region, Bev Clarkson, thanked everybody who volunteered and contributed to the event for their efforts and said Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s participation was reflective of the union\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment to LGBT rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur \u00c2\u014117,000 sponsorship for the UK Pride in Hull underlines Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strong and unwavering commitment to LGBT issues whether in the workplace and, more generally, in everyday life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHull is the gateway to the north and to be chosen firstly as City of Culture and as the first-ever venue for the UK Pride event is a great privilege.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn 2016, a decade after Hull was crowned one of the worst places in Britain to live, it was named one of the world’s top 10 cities to visit<\/a>.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Pride3<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All pics by Mark Harvey<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 40,000 people attended a Unite-sponsored Gay Pride celebration in Hull \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 2017 City of Culture \u00e2\u20ac\u201c on Saturday.   Unite provided \u00c2\u014117,000 for the festival, which included a massive parade through the city centre and a free concert featuring 80s singer Marc Almond and pop groups Cleopatra and B*Witched.   Around 100 Unite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[379,328],"wps_subtitle":"Unite out in full splendour at Hull Pride","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12830"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12841,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12830\/revisions\/12841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}