Even dogs are getting their own virtual Pride parade, with Paul O’Grady, Clare Balding, Anna Richardson – and their pups – taking part
A dog with rainbow ribbons during a Pride parade in Chennai on June 30, 2019. (ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty)
A virtual LGBT+ Pride parade for dogs will be held this Pride month, and Paul O’Grady, Clare Balding and Anna Richardson have already signed up their pups.
The parade, titled “Pride Dogs for Guide Dogs” is organised by The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, which said it wants to send the message that it is “here for everyone”.
It will take place between June 22 and June 28.
Beth Marsh, the charity’s fundraising special projects manager, told Forbes: “As our Great Guide Dogs Virtual Dog Show fell during Pride week, and in the absence of an actual parade, we thought this would be a fun and inclusive way for us to spread an important message that Guide Dogs is here for everyone.”
Annual pride parade organised by the Coalition of Sex Workers’, Sexual and Sexuality Minorities’ Rights (CSMR) in Bangalore on November 24, 2019. (MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP via Getty)
Queer dog-loving celebrities Paul O’Grady, Clare Balding and Anna Richardson are set to join the parade, and Balding said: “We can still join in and support each other, even if we can’t be there in person.
“Virtual Prides can wrap us all in a great big hug of love and respect.
“It may even reach and include more people than ever before.”
A dog takes part as marchers gather during the Queer Liberation March, the smaller march taking place before the 2019 Pride March in New York, 2019. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty)
The public can sign up for the parade, and the charity suggested on Facebook: “Dig out the outfit you might have planned for your event and feel free to accessorise your paw-some pals to complement your look!”
Participants can enter various categories with their doggo, including “Waggiest Tail”, “Scruffiest Lockdown” and a special “Pride dogs for Guide dogs” category.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association notes that it “doesn’t condone the dressing up of dogs and we would recommend that any accessorising is be based around collars/collar attachments, tags and leads and does not cause distress to the dog”.
