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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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I'm going, either to watch the parade pass and wander to the park afterwards, or to march at the end of the parade. I'm checking that joining the parade is allowed. Always wise to check. NW and I met an officious steward at Brighton who tried to deny us the right to walk.
Reading is not as high profile as Brighton or London, but a good few of us are local enough to it.
Will any of you join me?
I've been asked to blog about it afterwards, so I will 
http://www.readingpride.co.uk/festival-parade-2_36.html
[Updated on: Sat, 29 August 2009 15:59]
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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I won't be able to make it, I'm afraid: I'm away on my annual holiday on a boat on the Broads over next weekend.
Have fun at it, anyway! ... and I hope it isn't as damp as Brighton was.
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. ... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night devoid of stars." Martin Luther King
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... for those people who haven't yet followed the link.
I'm free next weekend, and since I live in Reading, I'll definitely go along for at least some of it. Timmy, it would be great to meet up at some point.
For anyone else here thinking of coming, one (perhaps the only) good thing that can be said of Reading is that it has a decent train station, so it's very accessible (and very easy to escape when you've had enough ).
Aside from Tim, I don't know anyone else who's going at the moment. I may ask at work next week. There are a couple of people who might conceivably be interested in going.
David
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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The parade starts at 11, it says on the site. As soon as I know if one can join it I'll post here. No reply yet from the organisers, who,oddly, are taking the weekend off!
It looks like a short procession route, and the site gives very little idea of what to expect, and I hope it's drier than Brighton.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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I asked about joining the parade.
I asked:
> May ordinary mortals join the parade? I was hoping to come along and watch the main parade pass and then join in as part of the parade, at the back.
> I'm just an ordinary bloke, no affiliation, no group, just gay and wanting to be "another person marching"
And I have received a welcome reply:
> Of course you can! The Facebook event was mostly for the benefit of ordinary people, obviously venues etc. can band together but now the National Front have threatened to protest a lot of people who were undecided are definitely coming!
> Hope to see you on the day - will look out for you joining in rear!
> Andy Adams
> Reading Pride Parade Co-Ordinator
I'm not sure what he means by "the Facebook event". I do see even more point in going if the NF bastards will be there. Going peacefully, of course.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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From the Facebook group:
BEGINS
The far-right National Front are being placed alongside the Reading Pride carnival parade route and have got police permission to do so. What sort of a message does this send out to members of the LGBT community? There have never been demonstrations in Reading before but the NF have protested in Swindon and London.
National Front spokesman Tom Linden says "It's to get across a message that we don't agree with the open, public promotion of homosexuality. What people do behind closed doors is up to them but the open promotion of this kind of lifestyle is what we object to."
Chief Supt Richard Bennett said: "It is the duty of the police to maintain public safety and strike a balance between allowing protesters their right to lawfully demonstrate while making sure there is minimal disruption to the local community."
ENDS
I suppose they do have the right to be openly fascist, but it does seem odd that they will come to picket a gay event, yet no gay folk go to picket theirs. Peacefully, of course.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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Anyone coming apart from Deej?
I should mention that nearest and dearest if either sex are welcome should they wish to come.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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The parade, which is the part I am going for, starts at 11 am and arrived in Kings Meadow park where the festival is allegedly at noon. Both are very close to the mainline railway station.
It is by no means to late to decide to go.
The National Front counter demonstration has been called off. I wonder oif the fact that some Jamaicans were going to protest againstthem made them worry!
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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