WITH a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community standing at about 22,000 people, Swindon is lagging behind a number of other towns and cities in not having its own event to mark this area of diversity in the area.

But this year a group of LGBT residents have come together to bring the traditional gay party time of 'Pride' to Swindon this summer.

The build up to the event started in the autumn with the first heats of the Pride Idol contest which comes to a head this evening and its winners will have pride of place on the bill at the August celebration.

Organisers hope that Swindon Pride will put the town on the LGBT map and, while it may take a several years to catch up with Brighton and Manchester's seven day extravaganzas, they have high hopes the debut outing will be a success.

James Waterhouse, event treasurer and entertainment co-ordinator, said: "What started the idea is that Swindon is growing.

"There are all these other Prides around the country, in Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, Brighton, Oxford, and they have been going on for a number of years so we thought Swindon was ready for one of its own now."

The event has been in preparation since January last year, and there is still a lot of work to be done before Swindon Pride takes over the Town Gardens in Old Town on August 16.

Interest in the event is already building and the Swindon Pride website is getting regular hits, with emails coming from people in places as far away as Newport, and as wellserved as London, saying the lineup is good and that they are looking forward to coming.

"People will come from out of town and we're laying on transport from the train station to the Town Gardens, " said James.

"We are anticipating roughly 5,000 people upwards. We're not going to get all 22,000 LGBT residents coming, as there are people who don't bother going to the bars and clubs and prefer to go to the theatre and have meals at home - there's a big majority that doesn't participate in activities like Pride.

"But we're creating a day of diversity. It's for everybody not just the LGBT community."

With the introduction of civil partnerships, known as gay weddings, more than two years ago much of the stigma surrounding non-heterosexual relationships and the activities of the LGBT community have begun to be broken down.

"Civil partnerships have not just helped with rights, they've made for better understanding.

"The people who will come will be those who do already mingle at places like the Pink Rooms and the Mailcoach - people who are not LGBT but enjoy going out for a good time. I don't think there's a stigma about that like there used to be."

Organisers, who have formed a sub-committee of the Swindon LGBT Coalition, are hoping their event will be different from the other Prides around the country, where performance areas and stages focus on one particular kind of act.

James said: "Listening to the community, they have turned round and said they don't want it to be the same as others.

"A lot of Prides have, for example, one stage just for drag queens.

That gets boring, it's one drag queen after another."

There will be three performances spaces in the gardens, with the main stage being the Old Town Bowl, the bandstand which will host a two-hour set, among other acts, by the 21-piece Wootton Bassett Brass Band, and a dance tent with DJs playing from 1pm until 10. 30pm. Other features include a fun fair and games area for all the family, five bars and an adult sales area which will have restricted access.

Young people from across the town are also expected to be involved, with schools taking part in the event's opening parade.

To find out more go to the website at www.swindonpride.kk5.org


Something for everyone on the stage

ACTS taking to the stage at Swindon Pride come from both the LGBT community and the straight community.

There will be drag queens galore, as well as several vocalists and musicians.

The main events will be on the Old Town Bowl, where there are currently 35 acts lined up to strut their stuff, including The Sheilas from the car insurance adverts for Sheilas' Wheels, Swindon's own The Locomotion, Cassidy Connors, a Liza Minelli tribute act, and stripper and singer Titus Rowe - although he will be keeping his clothes on for the Swindon crowd.

Elvis MBE will be flying in from Germany, having picked up his honour from the Queen as a result of his charity work in this country.

And pop-punk band The Mentalists will be returning to their bassist Alice Offley's home town, following their recent near miss stint on the T4 Mobile Acts Unsigned battle of the bands show on Channel 4.

James Bedford is set to be a crowd pleaser, as "the sexiest singer" organiser James Waterhouse has ever met.

"He is a cross between Boyzone and Westlife, " he said.

"He's a good looking guy and his performance at one of the Pride Idol heats knocked all the girls for six - straight and gay."

The Sheilas have been signed to Pete Waterman's record label and have made the most of the vivid pink styling to crash into the gay market on their way into the charts.

James hopes they will be joined by some top acts and has been in talks with management companies lining up secret guest stars who will not be revealed until the day.

It all started with a protest

THE modern fight for gay and lesbian civil rights, as well as the origins of Pride, can be traced back to the Stonewall Inn, in New York's Greenwich Village in June, 1968.

For the second time in a week the "private club" frequented by gay men, lesbians and drag artists was targeted by police on charges of selling alcohol without a licence.

After an initially peaceful start to the raid, an air of defiance built up and violence erupted, prompting confrontations between police and protesters. The Stonewall Rebellion sparked a a new wave of LGBT civil rights.

Pride dates back to the first anniversary of the rebellion in June, 1970, when the first ever march took place to commemorate the events a year earlier. A march also took place in four other cities across America.

Gay Pride came to the UK a couple of years later in 1972, but gay protest events started in London in 1970, organised by the Gay Liberation Front.

The GLF events led to the first real Pride march, on July 1, 1972, when about 2,000 lesbians and gay men marched down Oxford Street to Hyde Park. Marches continued through the late 1980s and early 1980s, but attendance rarely exceeded 1,000, but in 1986 the festival moved to Jubilee Gardens and the attendance rose to around 10,000.

In 1990 London Pride had its first high profile route through Victoria, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, past the Houses of Parliament, and down Kennington Road.

London Pride in 2006 saw 600,000 people gather in the capital to celebrate.

Although Brighton is usually recognised as the gay and lesbian capital of the country, it did not hold a Pride event until 1992, but it has now become the biggest free Pride festival in the UK with a week of events in February and the main event in August which has seen more than 120,000 joining in the fun on the main carnival day.