ABSTRACT
It has been suggested that Pride events offer liminal safe spaces in which 'transformations of self' can occur, 'consolidating' identities and 'building' communities. This chapter focuses specifically on Pride events as creating temporary spaces that were of particular significance for many participants. Drawing on participant data and existing research, the chapter demonstrates how Pride events have the potential to create or support feelings of community, and offer spaces which can facilitate safeties and freedoms. It explores how Pride events offer possibilities to celebrate identities and party with others. The research identified a range of perspectives regarding previously documented tensions between 'party' and 'politics' or 'protest. Linked to commercialism, a lack of resources and the intersections of some people's identities could also contribute to the exclusion of some LGBT people within and from Pride events. Tensions were evident about 'flamboyant' displays of 'queerness' that unsettled some participants who did not want to be (seen to be) 'different' or 'extreme'.
