Sharon Meenan from Foyle Pride says the decision to stage the parade along the route of the 1968 civil rights march was deliberate. “Why is it that gays feel the need to parade their lifestyle? I am a heterosexual, but I don't see any need to organise a parade to let people know.”Īlthough a festival has been held in the city since 1993, the organisers say that it is only now that people felt confident enough to march through the city. As someone wisely observed, it was Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve. Rev Jonathan Campbell from the Independent Methodist Church in the Waterside said: “When the Lord created man, it was male and female. The first ever gay pride parade to be held in Londonderry will follow the route of the 1968 civil rights march from Duke Street railway station to the Guildhall.īut the parade and the chosen route of the August 28 march has already been criticised by some church leaders in Derry.
