Pride in London sorry for 'misjudged' poster campaign

An LGBT+ organisation has apologised after some of the messages it created to publicise a forthcoming gay pride campaign were criticised.

Pride in London launched its Love Happens Here posters to promote the capital's Pride Festival, which takes place between 24 June and 9 July.

But after a backlash on social media, the organisation admitted some of its content was "misjudged".

It said it had removed four images from the campaign as a result.

The poster campaign used messages from members of the LGBT+ community and "straight" people, which were then made into posters by artists.

On seeing one of the posters, which used gay as a pejorative, Twitter user Ryan James said: "Imagine being a kid at school who dies a little every time they hear something called 'sooooo gay' and then seeing this trash."

A spokesperson for the organisation said: "It is clear we misjudged the content of some of the messages in this poster series, undermining the individuality, importance, and dignity of the LGBT+ community.

"This was never our intention, and we are genuinely sorry to have played any part in something that appears to devalue our own community, and have removed these... images from our campaign."

Some have complained that the campaign concentrates too much on the gay and lesbian members of the LGBT+ community.

Twitter user Pippin Drill said: "Not a single mention of bisexuals, but plenty from straight people. Interesting. #LondonPride #Biphobia."

Another poster which has caused offence read "Befriend a gay person and win a prize. Friendship", while another said "My gay friends make me more attractive by association".

Hundreds of people complained about the campaign on Twitter,

Twitter user Jamie said: "I'm shocked at how @LondonLGBTPride have managed to badly stereotype straight allies and completely alienate and insult the LGBT community."

Pride In London takes in 14-days of events, aiming to raise awareness of issues facing the LGBT+ community, culminating in the London Pride parade on 8 July.

A spokesperson added: "This year has seen our largest ever LGBT+ campaign... We hope the breadth of our campaign, that celebrates the wonderful spectrum of LGBT+ life in London, is a more truthful reflection of our community."