Thousands of people have taken part in the 30th Foyle Pride parade in Derry today.
This year’s Pride festival, featuring a programme of events, began on August 18 and runs until Sunday, August 27, with the main parade happening on Saturday afternoon between 2-3pm.
The parade left Waterside Train Station before crossing the top deck of Craigavon Bridge onto Carlisle Road, into The Diamond, down Shipquay Street and into Guildhall Square.
According to the Parades Commission website a sole private individual submitted an application to protest the parade. The commission has placed no conditions on the one-man picket. It is unclear who the person is.
Two other applications for protests were also submitted. One by Bethel Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church located just outside the city, and another by a group called ‘United Christian Witness’.
No conditions were placed on the Bethel Baptist Church protest, which was said to be made up of 25 participants.
United Christian Witness, which describes itself as a non-profit religious organisation, applied for a 15-person protest beginning at 1pm and ending at 4pm at Guildhall Square.
This would mean it would have been at the dispersal point of the Pride parade an hour after it finished when the music and entertainment was taking place.
After considering all the evidence, the Parades Commission ruled that the protest must take place at The Diamond, about a fifth of a mile away, and end at the same time as the Pride parade.
A spokesperson for the commission said the decision came after the religious group caused issues in that spot during last year’s parade.
“This is the point of dispersal of the parade and last year resulted in protestors coming into direct contact with parade participants and festival goers. Representations were received confirming this aggravated the risk of public disorder,” the statement reads.
In a post on social media, United Christian Witness hit out at the ruling, stating: “It seems in Northern Ireland there is now new battleground which traditionally was between Catholic and Protestant culture but is now between born-again Christians and the LGBT political movement.”
The group added “this is rather strange because the gospel witness causes no harm to anyone”.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said those protesting the parade will be “more than drowned out by the thousands of people congregating in our city to celebrate and show their support and solidarity to our LGBT+ community.
“At a time when the LGBT+ community and their rights are being attacked around the world it’s more important than ever that we come together and make it clear that any attempts to roll back on hard-won rights or drag us to the past will be firmly rejected,” he added.
“As the Mayor of Derry during the first Foyle Pride parade I was honoured to take part in the march on that historic occasion. In the years since I have taken great heart in the growth of the Foyle Pride Festival which has gone from strength to strength.
“Our city has always been a welcoming one to the LGBT+ community and we are proud of our credentials in that regard.”
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