Brighton Pride will be marking the 50th anniversary of the first gay pride march in the city.

Organisers of the annual parade and festival will remember some of the trailblazers of the gay rights movement in Brighton and Hove with exhibitions and lamppost banners across the city in the run-up to the event in August.

The first Pride event in Brighton took place in July 1973, with a whole weekend of events including a march, disco and a picnic on the beach.

The event was organised by the Sussex Gay Liberation Front (SGLF). 

The group started life in January 1971 and was comprised of students and staff at the University of Sussex, along with LGBT people from the area.

Photos from the event taken by The Argus were rediscovered in 2021, with protesters carrying banners which say “glad to be gay”, “gay but not ashamed” and “homosexuals are humans”.

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A spokesman for Brighton and Hove Pride said: “Campaigning has always been at the forefront of Pride, and we couldn’t have achieved the advances in both civil society and legal terms without the thousands of LGBT+ trailblazers who have made a stand and dared to be different.

“This year, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Brighton Gay Pride, organised by the Sussex Gay Liberation Front in July 1973, we will be remembering and uplifting some of these trailblazers in exhibitions and on lamppost banners across the city.”

Grammy award-winning band Black Eyed Peas will be headlining this year’s Pride festival in Preston Park as part of the festivities in August.

The American group are well known for their electrifying performances and chart-topping hits, such as Where Is The Love and I Gotta Feeling.

The theme for this year’s Pride parade, “dare to be different”, aims to bring people together in the ongoing campaign for global LGBTQ+ rights.

Each year, Pride attracts an estimated 500,000 people to the city and around £30.5 million to Brighton and Hove’s economy.