I read with some apprehension the remarks made by Graham Beswick- C.E.O of Fishergate Productions, about winning the Pride contract.

Lets hope this isn't just another straight businessman attempting to 'cash-in' on Pride as his focus is 'maximising the value to both Brighton & Hove economy' would suggest this.

Apparently the LGBT community comes a close second in his priorities. I also see he wants to make a Pride that 'stands-out'; any Pride that didn't 'stand-out' would be odd. I would add that I believe Pride is already the largest single annual event in the City, most of the wider straight community wouldn't necessarily know this.

Forgive my 'nit-picking' of Graham Beswick's comments (his company has my best wishes) but it stems from my concern that Pride doesn't turn into another mainstream/sanitized family focused event.

This would be the beginning of the end of a genuine 'Gay Pride' and the loss of something highly valuable to the LGBT community i.e. the once a year opportunity to really be who you are and express this publicly and even shout about it. It is of course vital that Pride gets better with managing its finances, but as someone I know puts it 'Pride is our Christmas'.

Anyone after a Pride contract perhaps should be asked do they understand the meaning behind this analogy.