As the annual Leeds Pride parade takes place in Leeds city centre today, we hear from our friends at Marching Out Together…

At the same time as our match kicks off today, thousands of LGBTQ+ people and their friends will be joining a colourful, vibrant, and raucous parade through the city centre. We will be there as well as at Elland Road for our first game of the 2023/24 campaign.

‘Pride’ started as a protest against discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people and has since grown to help educate on issues related to discrimination and hate crimes, as well as being a fabulous celebration of the achievements and role of the LGBTQ+ community.

We have seen some major developments in the last year, with the first professional gay players in the UK coming out to a warm and supportive response, the CPS and FA defining abusive chanting as a hate crime, plans for an independent regulator for the game in England, and of course Luke Ayling making history last year as the first Premier League player to walk with fans at a Pride parade. There are real signs of change, but there remains a lot to do to make football truly inclusive for everyone. Pride remains an important part of that.

We are proud of Leeds United’s active support for its LGBTQ+ fans. The club are a major sponsor of Leeds Pride again this year, but they also work positively with us year-round: in stewarding, awareness training among staff, the Academy and wider community, in retail merchandising and on regular campaigns and events. We look forward to continuing this work with the club and new owners and send our very best wishes and support to Daniel Farke and the men’s and women’s teams for the season ahead.

Please get involved in our celebration of Pride today; with various activities and branding around the stadium, and the chance to join us after the match in the city centre as we continue our celebrations.

All Leeds, Aren’t We!

To find out more about Marching Out Together or if you would like to get in touch, please visit www.marchingouttogether.co.uk