Just Stop Oil threatens to disrupt London Pride over ‘high-polluting’ sponsors

Just Stop Oil has threatened to disrupt London’s Pride march if the parade does not stop accepting sponsorship money from “high-polluting industries”.

In a statement, LGBT+ members of the group also called on organisers to ban floats from those organisations in the parade – and condemn new oil, gas and coal.

“These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries,” they said.

LGBT+ people are “suffering first” in the “accelerating social breakdown” caused by climate change, they added.

“Pride was born from protest,” the statement continued.

“It speaks to how far we’ve come as a community that high-polluting industries and the banks that fund them now see Pride as a useful vehicle for sanitising their reputations, waving rainbow flags in one hand whilst accelerating social collapse with the other.”

Just Stop Oil said: “If London Pride fails to take these basic steps necessary to protect our community, we will have to consider potential escalations which may result in the disruption of Pride.

“We will also call for the entire LGBTQ+ community to join us in protest and boycott – for the safety of LGBTQ+ people everywhere.”

The activists will gather at Parliament Square at 12pm on Saturday.

London’s Pride parade will begin at the same time at Hyde Park Corner.