[8] In 1981, the usual Pride march and rally was not held in London, decamping to Huddersfield instead as an act of solidarity with the Yorkshire gay community who claimed that West Yorkshire Police were harassing them by repeatedly raiding the Gemini Club, a leading nightclub in the North of England at the time.

[10] For the next few years, another commercial organisation ran what it called 'London Mardi Gras' before it failed to pay its bill for the use of Hyde Park and was unable to run any more events without clearing that debt.

[16] In August 2021, the event was cancelled in full due to COVID-19, stating that final risk assessments would not allow the parade to be held.

This gathering turned into a large party that was penned by BBC News as an illegal rave and was shut down by police at 11pm.

[24] During the 2018 Pride London, eight anti-trans activists carrying banners claiming "transactivism erases lesbians" took the lead of the demonstration without authorisation.

There was heightened security put in place for this event as the Orlando nightclub shooting had occurred earlier in the month.

[32][33] In 2015, the celebrations ran from 21 to 28 June, with the parade on the 27th; the day after same sex marriage became legalised nationwide in the United States.

The theme "Pride Heroes" was used to celebrate LGBT figures of the day and throughout history including computer scientist Alan Turing[34] and a gay sports club The King's Cross Steelers.

[35] There was controversy over the decision taken by Pride in London to disallow the UK Independence Party (UKIP)'s entry into the parade.

[40] A social media where people were asked to submit what #FreedomTo meant to them using an image of themselves with their message formed part of the first Pride in London advertising campaign.

It was founded as such so that any surplus generated can only be reinvested in Pride in London events or distributed as grants to LGBT community groups.

The current CEO is Christopher Joell-Deshields and the Board of Directors are Dan O'Gorman, Asad Shaykh, Rebecca Paisis and Leon Collins.

Other sponsors have included Barclays Bank, ASDA, CitiBank, Fuller's Brewery the brewer of London Pride (beer),[45] Prudential and SAB Miller.

During March 2021 one of the most senior volunteers, the Director of Communications, Rhammel Afflick resigned in what they described as "distinct disregard for black and brown LGBT+ communities over a period of years".

[49][50] On 18 March 2021 the entire Pride in London Community Advisory Board (CAB) resigned alleging both a culture of bullying and a hostile environment for people of colour.

They cited "the increasing preoccupation at Pride in London with managing the public relations concerns of its leadership, at the cost of supporting its Black and POC volunteers or community members".

[51][52][53][54] Throughout 2021 sponsors withdrew from the event based on this controversy[55] In October 2021 fourteen leading voices of the community wrote an open letter to the Mayor of London, who had previously called the organisation "a mess" and in need of a "reset and refresh how Pride in London is organised".

[56] The letter asked for intervention in the delivery of the event, including an investigation into bullying of volunteers, that directors make available a register of interests, and that the organisation engaged with the community.

This was to coincide with the London Olympic and Paralympic Games[59] and during the anticipated year-long celebrations of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Instead, the event plans included a Pride Walk (without floats or vehicles), and a scaled-back rally in Trafalgar Square.

[citation needed] Business organisations running London Pride have come under criticism from socialists within the LGBT community.

For instance, Hannah Dee argues that it has reached "the point that London Pride – once a militant demonstration in commemoration of the Stonewall riots – has become a corporate-sponsored event far removed from any challenge to the ongoing injustices that we [the LGBT community] face".