BRIGHTON and Hove Pride is a Pride to be proud of. Along with the smiles, sunshine and good times, our sole ethos is to promote tolerance and diversity in our communities.

As a not for profit community interest organisation, supporting community groups and charities is the cornerstone of everything we do. We are a ‘Pride with Purpose’.

As the UK’s biggest international Pride Festival, Brighton Pride attracts a diverse demographic audience from across the globe and is singularly the most popular visitor attraction in the city’s event calendar.

It is our opportunity to celebrate the unique diversity and quirkiness of our fabulous city. Pride is as famous, vibrant, popular and utterly unique as our city itself.

One of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to Pride can be: “Why do we need a Pride?”

Given the huge improvement in equalities over the last decade with protections written into law and a legal recognition of same sex partnerships, it is understandable that some people, including some in the LGBT community, might think we’ve won the fight for freedom.

However in five countries across the globe homosexuality is still punishable with the death penalty, while a further 70 imprison citizens because of who they are.

By highlighting the lives of LGBT communities across the globe Brighton Pride asks us to look beyond our own backyard and engage with those LGBT people living in countries which criminalise or persecute them purely because of their gender or sexuality or for just being themselves.

Regretfully some small minded people in the LGBT community have the attitude of “I’m alright Jack”.

This is amid the Egyptian government’s recent crackdown on freedoms enjoyed by gay men with arrests and prosecutions and the horrific pictures allegedly showing two gay men being thrown to their deaths from the top of a tower by the self proclaimed Islamic State (IS).

These remind us of how far we have to go as a global community in the fight for LGBT equality.

Among the Pride celebrations, we will remember, campaign and connect to the many LGBT communities across the globe fighting for the freedom to live.

Brighton and Hove Pride is now considered the UK’s leading Pride event and can be proud to be a voice for others, and we should have a Pride with purpose.

Pride is a truly inclusive citywide celebration when our community comes together to celebrate the amazing and diverse communities that make up Brighton and Hove .

Everyone is welcome as long as they are well behaved and have respect and tolerance for fellow human beings.

Brighton and Hove Pride celebrates inclusion and diversity and helps build lasting community capital that is difficult to measure but easy to see.

What is easy to measure is the money generated by Pride not only from ticket sales on the festival in the park but also across the city.

Pride is the largest community event in the city which benefits not only community groups and charities but also city services, tourism and commercial venues.

Pride has it’s roots in the community and in the last two years has raised £110,000 for local good causes.

Groups benefitting this year include Allsorts Youth Project, who support young people, MindOut, who work for people with mental health issues, GEMS and Older & Out, both groups which provide social, networking and support opportunities for older people.

The LGBT Community Safety forum this year delivered the Accessibility Matters project, making Pride more accessible and safer for disabled, blind, deaf and older people.

Pride also brings in more than £13.8 million to the city’s economy over Pride weekend and attracts two per cent of Brighton’s annual visitors in just one day.

Brighton and Hove needs events such as the Brighton Festival, Pride and the marathon.

I appreciate that Pride may cause inconvenience and disruption to some people’s lives, and I apologise for this, but events such as Pride not only bring in economic benefits but also identify our city internationally as a happening place to visit all year round rather than being a sleepy seaside town.

Pride is recognised as one of the very best events in the UK but in today’s economic climate it is not a cheap proposition to produce such a large-scale event.

Regular festivalgoers will recognise that most commercial festival tickets carry a much higher price.

Pride has similar production costs to other commercial events but with anticipated increases in cleaning, security and policing costs over the next few years we face significant challenges.

Our aim to deliver an accessible community event that is award-winning, critically acclaimed and value for money, as well as fundraising and creating a sustainable future but we need more support, especially from businesses who benefit from extra revenue over Pride.

Businesses who benefit from the bumper weekend’s trade need to contribute to our fundraising effort rather than just reap financial benefits.

  • Paul Kemp is managing director of Brighton Pride