{"id":322326,"date":"2025-08-06T11:05:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/322326\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T11:05:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T11:05:14","slug":"veterans-pride-returns-to-liverpool-with-2025-theme-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/322326\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans Pride returns to Liverpool with 2025 theme announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

The theme for this year’s celebrations will be authentically vintage<\/p>\n

11:23, 06 Aug 2025Updated 11:52, 06 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

\"CabaretCabaret artist Queera Lynn will be entertaining the crowds at Liverpool’s Veteran Pride(Image: Queera Lynn)<\/p>\n

Veterans Pride is returning to Liverpool this weekend with a distinctive theme. Sefton<\/a> Street\u2019s HMS Eaglet will host the special event on Saturday, August 9, as it continues to celebrate the service of LGBT+ veterans and serving personnel in the UK\u2019s Armed Forces.<\/p>\n

Already award-winning, this will be only the second year of the event. It has been created and organised by a team of partner military charities led by LGBT+ military charity Fighting With Pride<\/a>, who collaborated with the Royal Navy and the Royal British Legion (RBL).<\/p>\n

The event will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the “gay ban” being lifted in the armed forces. The careers of many of the veterans attending were cut short by the historic prohibition, which remained in place until 12th January 2000. Some of those who lost their careers faced arrest, intrusive investigations and even prison sentences because of their sexuality.<\/p>\n

Fighting With Pride\u2019s Kenny Bryce, who lives in Aigburth<\/a>, told the ECHO<\/a>: “We are delighted to be returning with the award-winning Veterans Pride event for another year at HMS Eaglet.<\/p>\n

\"FightingFighting With Pride seek’s restorative justice for those affected by the ‘gay ban’ in the armed forces(Image: Fighting With Pride)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to welcoming LGBT+ Veterans and allies to join us in celebrating the 25th anniversary of the ‘gay ban’ being lifted from the Armed Forces. We have a fantastic night of entertainment, and I know that all attendees will have a great night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to thank our sponsors Spark Medical and Thrive Together for their invaluable contribution and commitment to the LGBT+ armed forces community.”<\/p>\n

Veterans Pride 2025 will have a 1940s \u201cauthentically vintage\u201d theme and include moments of recognition and celebration of LGBT+ veterans’ service. The evening will be hosted by local performer West End and TV star Gillian Hardie.<\/p>\n

\"FightingFighting With Pride is the organisation behind Veteran’s Pride(Image: Fighting With Pride)<\/p>\n

Other performers entertaining guests on the evening will be cabaret artist Queera Lynn, the UK’s wartime-styled drag artist. Comedians from Veterans Comedy Club and saxophonist and vocalist Jessica Stretton will complete the evening’s line-up.<\/p>\n

In January 2022, the UK Government announced an LGBT Veterans Independent Review, which was chaired by former Master of the Rolls, Lord Etherton KC.<\/p>\n

Over an 18-month period, 1100 veterans gave evidence of their experiences, with many having faced criminal charges and dismissal for being gay or presumed to be gay.<\/p>\n

On 19th July 2023, in response to Lord Etherton\u2019s Report recommendations, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, made an apology on behalf of the British nation<\/a> in the House of Commons as he announced a package of reparations.<\/p>\n

\"CrowdsCrowds enjoying New Brighton Pride celebrations 2022(Image: Jamie Lee Carter)<\/p>\n

Also happening this weekend is Wirral<\/a> Pride. On the same day, hundreds are expected to take over New Brighton in a sea of rainbow colour. The \u201cjam-packed day of colour and celebration\u201d is said t be for the whole family.<\/p>\n

Previously known as New Brighton<\/a> Pride, the organisers rebranded for 2025 to allow the group to \u201csupport more people\u201d in the area. The festivities are set to continue as an annual celebration of joy<\/a>, acceptance, music and dance, inviting everyone from the region to take pride in who they are.<\/p>\n

The day of fun will kick off at Victoria Quarter on Saturday, August 9, starting at 10.30am with the opening of various stalls.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The theme for this year’s celebrations will be authentically vintage 11:23, 06 Aug 2025Updated 11:52, 06 Aug 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,14721,179,2349,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-322326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-lgbtqia","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool-city-centre","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114981498551469411","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}