Brighton is set to host its first-ever Dyke Pride event next month, with organisers promising a free, grassroots celebration centred on community, visibility and trans inclusion.
Brighton Dyke Pride will take place on Saturday, 5 September at St Ann’s Well Gardens, bringing together dykes and allies for a day of live music, speakers, DJs, a community market, line dancing and cabaret performances.
Although Brighton has long been regarded as one of the UK’s most LGBTQ+ friendly cities, organisers say it is one of the few major cities without a dedicated Dyke Pride event or march. The new festival has been created in response to what organisers describe as growing hostility towards LGBTQ+ people, particularly trans communities, and aims to provide a space for connection, celebration and collective action.
Run entirely by volunteers, Brighton Dyke Pride has been designed as a free, community-owned event with no corporate sponsorship. Organisers say the event will be fully trans-inclusive, accessible and cross-generational, with a focus on uplifting those who are often marginalised within the wider dyke community.
The event grew out of Dyke Day, a free gathering held earlier this year on Lesbian Visibility Day. According to organisers, the strong turnout and positive response highlighted a demand for more dedicated community spaces, helping to inspire the creation of Brighton Dyke Pride.
Among the attractions planned for the inaugural event are a dyke market organised by Brighton Dyke Mart, live performances, speakers, queer line dancing and what organisers describe as a “very special” dyke cabaret.
Co-founder Zoë Schulz said the event had been built through collaboration and a shared commitment to creating welcoming community spaces.
“Brighton Dyke Pride was created through collaboration, creativity, and a love for the dyke community,” she said. “We are a small group of volunteers who genuinely believe in the power of coming together and sharing in joy to have a ripple effect across our community.
“We are living through scary times, and spaces that are resolutely trans inclusive and community-led have never been more important. It was so important to us that this space was completely free to attend, for all dykes without any identity policing. Dykes are magic and we deserve spaces that are our own.”
Fellow co-founder Emily Payne said the event offered an alternative to what some people experience at larger Pride celebrations. “A Pride for dykes is something I have always dreamed of,” she said. “Mainstream Pride can sometimes feel really alienating, and parades feel very corporate. As a dyke I can sometimes feel left behind.
“I love the idea of a fully grassroots Pride free from corporate sponsors, centring dyke artists, culture and being fully inclusive towards trans dykes.”
Co-founder Billy Ballantyne said trans people would be at the heart of the event and stressed that trans men and transmasculine people would be welcomed “Brighton Dyke Pride is for trans dykes by trans dykes,” he said. “A patchwork maximalist event with trans people at its centre.
“As a trans man, I’ve had countless conversations with other trans men and transmasc people, and there can be a sense of isolation and alienation from our own LGBTQ+ community at times.
“So I want to be absolutely clear: trans men are celebrated here. At Brighton Dyke Pride you are welcome whether you identify as a boydyke, dyke alumni, or a dyke ally.”
Organisers hope the event will become an annual fixture in Brighton’s LGBTQ+ calendar and are currently raising funds through a community crowdfunder to support this year’s launch.
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