A new organisation has been set up as an alternative to the official Oxford Pride. Oxford DIY Pride plan to host their own pride event across Florence Park Community Centre and the Old Fire Station on 15th June, a week after the official Oxford Pride Event on 7th June.
Oxford DIY Pride objected to the sponsorship of Oxford Pride by Siemens Healthineers, a subsidiary of the German multinational technology conglomerate Siemens, in an Instagram post on 27th April. According to the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions Movement, which identifies corporations with links to Israel and Israeli military action in Gaza and encourages people to boycott them, “Siemens is the main contractor for the Euro-Asia Interconnector, an Israel-EU submarine electricity cable that is planned to connect Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory to Europe.”
Oxford Pride told Cherwell: “With regard to Siemens Healthineers Magnet Technology Oxford (actually a subsidiary separate from Siemens), this partnership was terminated on 29th April 2025. This was due to concerns that their LGBTQIA+ staff could be subject to harassment by those pressuring them to cut ties with us. It is unacceptable that any individual should feel threatened for supporting a Pride event.”
Siemens Healthineers are currently developing a £250 million facility for MRI cooling technology in North Oxfordshire, which they claim will bring more than 1,300 skilled jobs to the local area. Siemens Global call themselves “allies and advocates” and feature testimony from LGBTQ+ and “ally” employees on a dedicated webpage.
Oxford DIY Pride acknowledged the “termination” of the partnership on their Instagram page. However, Oxford DIY Pride still plan to go ahead with the separate event, arguing that there is a “clear desire for a non-corporate pride” in Oxford, and that other corporations involved in the sponsorship of the main Pride event also have ties to genocide in Gaza. Oxford Pride told Cherwell: “We’re aware of a small group planning an alternative event. We welcome all community-led initiatives, including those that focus solely on protest or expression.”
Oxford Pride has grown significantly in recent years. In 2023, Oxford Pride reported shareholder assets of £46,850, almost quadruple that of the £12,635 total in 2021. The BBC reported an attendance of thousands at Oxford Pride in 2022, and the 2024 event hosted performers at three different stages throughout the city centre.
Oxford DIY Pride claim that Oxford Pride deflected criticism over the sponsorship by arguing that they are “not political”. Oxford Pride told Cherwell: “As organisers, we remain politically neutral and work hard to create a space that reflects the full spectrum of our LGBTQIA+ community. Furthermore, Oxford Pride is a registered charity, and the Charity Commission clearly states that we are legally not allowed to take political positions that fall outside of our charitable objectives which are LGBTQIA+ rights within Oxford and Oxfordshire.”
The Charity Commission states that political campaigning or political activity “must be undertaken by a charity only in the context of supporting the delivery of its charitable purposes.” For these purposes, political activity is defined in terms of seeking to change government policy or legislation.
Oxford DIY Pride told Cherwell: “Caring about, promoting and celebrating LGBTQ+ people does not exist in a vacuum; our identities are interconnected, and the struggle of one oppressed people does not separate them from the struggle of another. Pride began as a protest, and now more than ever must continue to reflect that character, to demonstrate queerness and unity when our human rights are ignored, threatened or revoked.
When we look to Palestinians, whose human rights have been violated time and again over the past 77 years, there is an innate solidarity there. Pride is about defiant existence in the face of forces that do not want us to be here; Palestinians embody this every day.”
This tension between ideas of Pride as a protest and corporate sponsorship of Pride events is not one unique to Oxford. DIY Pride themselves cite similar events in Brighton and Reading as their inspiration, and there have been further instances of pro-Palestinian action in relation to Pride events in Birmingham, Glasgow and Exeter.
Cherwell has approached Siemens for comment.
