2 December 2025
In a packed Rainbow Room at London Metropolitan University, we celebrated the launch of Dr Francesca Romana Ammaturo’s The Politics of Pride Events: Global and Local Challenges. The event was co-sponsored by the Gender and Sexual Diversity Research Group, the Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre, and the Centre for Equity and Inclusion, with support from the LGBTQ+ Staff Network.
Dr Ammaturo’s book, published in October 2025 by Bristol University Press, is an original and cutting-edge approach to the global study of Pride Events, based on primary research with 60 Pride organisers from 29 different countries around the world, across the Global North and Global South. Organised in three parts, the book introduces the concept of “Kaleidoscope Modernities” to address the existing challenges faced by Pride organisers in relation to the ever-changing political, social, and legal landscapes that places the rights of LGBTIQA+ persons in an often precarious and dangerous position, particularly in times of anti-gender and anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric.
The book asks how we can pluralise our understanding of Pride Events beyond the “mythologisation” of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, traditionally considered as the watershed moment for global LGBTQIA+ activism, as well as grappling with contradictions relating to the growing commercialisation of Pride Events, internal conflicts relating to the priorities of different groups within the LGBTQIA+ acronym, as well as social justice issues, such as questions relating to accessibility and efforts to make Pride Events environmentally sustainable.
To discuss and celebrate the book, a panel of experts on LGBTQIA+ Rights and Pride Events came together, with contributions by Dr Angeliki Sifaki, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (CES-UC), and Dr Koen Slootmaeckers, Reader in International Politics at City St. George’s University. The event was chaired by Prof. Phillip Ayoub, Professor of Political Science at University College London.
The panellists offered generous appraisals of the book, focusing in particular on its intention to offer productive and generative critiques of current global Pride politics, as well as appreciating the effort of the author to go beyond the Western and Eurocentric academic canon on Pride Events that is hegemonic in the study of this phenomenon. To enrich even further the event, a lively participation from the audience meant that many themes of the book were explored in more depth and in relation to personal experiences of participants from different walks of life, both from London Metropolitan University and beyond.
The Politics of Pride Events is a timely and refreshing book that deeply interrogates the very foundation of LGBTQIA+ activism in the streets of our cities, towns, and villages across different latitudes and settings. It reminds us that collective power can still illuminate our paths, even in dark times, provided that we continuously work on creating meaningful alliances, and building solidarity.
Image: Francesca Ammaturo and panellists.