Here's what Just Stop Oil's LGBTQ+ members say about disrupting London Pride

Pride was in full swing in London yesterday when environmental campaign group Just Stop Oil disrupted the parade, spraying the road and sitting in front of a Coca-Cola float.

The Metropolitan police said protestors sat in the middle of the road on Piccadilly at 1.30pm, causing the parade to stop for about 15 minutes. A video posted online showed officers picking up the protestors and carrying them away. But why did Just Stop Oil target Pride, of all things?

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Well, the group has previously warned it would take action, calling on organisers of the event to ban floats from “high-polluting” sponsors and to condemn new oil, gas and coal. A statement from LGBTQ+ members of Just Stop Oil said: “These partnerships embarrass the LGBTQ+ community at a time when much of the cultural world is rejecting ties to these toxic industries.”

LGBTQ+ people were “suffering first” in the “accelerating social breakdown” caused by the climate crisis, and Pride itself “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 has also been tweeting messages from its LGBTQ+ members.

Just Stop Oil said in an earlier statement on Saturday: “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.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also weighed in this week, describing Just Stop Oil as a “really important pressure group”.

The protest came after the London mayor described Just Stop Oil as a “really important pressure group” despite the activists’ threats to disrupt Pride in the capital. Speaking before the parade on Saturday morning, Sadiq Khan said: “I agree with protesting in a way that is lawful, safe, and peaceful. I think that Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are really important pressure groups trying to put power on those who have power and influence.”

Love them or hate them, Just Stop Oil have certainly got everybody’s attention.

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