Bedford Pride 2026

We are incredibly proud that Rainbow Bedfordshire has taken over the Harpur Suite at this year’s Bedford Pride, right in the heart of Bedford town centre. It is a wonderful opportunity to fill such a central local venue with music, laughter and community spirit, while creating a joyful celebration where LGBTQ+ people, their friends, families and allies can come together, feel welcome and be proudly themselves. For us, Pride is not only a celebration it is also a powerful reminder that everyone deserves to be seen, valued and included.

This year’s event feels especially exciting because it builds on the energy, learning and happy memories created through our previous community events. In 2024, A Pride for Everyone, LGBTQ+ Festival brought people together around a shared belief that Pride should be accessible, welcoming and open to all. Our Queer Prom in 2025 then gave people the chance to dress in whatever made them feel confident, dance the night away and make new memories in a space created with inclusion at its heart which including accessible facilities, a quiet area and British Sign Language interpretation. Through the Nebula Collective’s LGBTQ+ performance nights, local performers have also been able to share their music, spoken word, comedy and creativity in a supportive community setting, helping new voices take to the stage and bringing audiences together. The warmth, creativity and enthusiasm shown by everyone who attended, performed, volunteered and supported these events demonstrated just how vibrant and caring our local community is.

We cannot wait to carry that spirit forward into Bedford Pride and make the Harpur Suite shine with celebration. We hope the day will be full of unforgettable moments, new friendships, brilliant performances and the simple happiness of being together. Most of all, we want every person who walks through the doors to know that this Pride is for them and that they are an important part of Bedford’s story. We are enormously grateful to everyone who has supported our journey so far, and we are excited to celebrate how far we have come while looking ahead with hope, pride and joy. Let us make this year’s Bedford Pride our brightest and most welcoming celebration yet!

Check out the event here!

Statement regarding the newly published updated EHRC Code of…

The rights of trans people in the UK have been drastically reduced in the last 15 months. Legal protections have been weakened in this significant rollback of rights. The right to a peaceful, safe existence as a trans person with equal access to everyday services and public spaces is systematically being denied.

Trans lives have been used as a political football, as with other minorities, by harmful media coverage and discourse. This prejudice is directly affecting the wider LGBTQ+ community too, and anyone whose gender presentation strays from restrictive societal norms.

The government’s own impact assessment acknowledges that beyond trans people, many other people in society will be badly affected too.

The latest version of the Code of Practice amounts to a ‘bathroom ban’ for trans and non-binary folk. This policy was opposed 10 years ago by the UK foreign office as a breach of human rights, when parts of the United States introduced it.

But this is where we are now.

Trans and non-binary people are already facing social exclusion and/or personal intrusion, with an increasing risk of being ’policed’ in spaces where privacy and dignity are far less likely to be upheld for them. The Equality Act 2010, and the legal protections it affords millions of people, is being eroded purposely to cause trans people harm, but it will have a far-reaching effect on so many other members of society, who also need to be protected in law.

This Code of Practice also negatively impacts organisations, businesses and the services they provide.

Realistically, the guidance is not workable, and lacks clarity. This will lead to misunderstanding, misuse, and further abuse of trans and non-binary people.

One thing remains very clear, it is not an offence for a trans individual to continue using the toilets they usually access.

The Rainbow Bedfordshire team does not intend to change anything we offer currently in response to this updated Code of Practice. We are seeking further clarification, and we will reach out to our community partners to ensure they understand our position, and seek assurance that the trans community have their continuing support. We will keep our members updated, continue to promote inclusion and visibility. and combat isolation, by providing safer spaces for all of our members.

The Rainbow Bedfordshire Team

Retrospecting on Nebula

Check out a review of the recent Nebula launch event from the producer of the event Sparky, along with a look into what comes next:

https://sparkytko.substack.com/p/lumiscent-passive-aggressive-ghosts

A Christmas Message from the Rainbow Bedfordshire Team

After a very eventful year in the UK, for LGBTQ+ people, for Rainbow Bedfordshire, and in each of our lives it is time to take a break from [the illusion of] normality for Christmas and New Year.

We are aware that there are people within our community who find the festive period really hard. Some of you might be spending this time with people who do not accept you for who you are. Some of you may have been rejected and have found yourself alone. We have not stopped our groups for the entire festive season. We have paused for three days this week and three days next week. We can see we already have a busy year ahead, with both new and continuing projects in 2026.

We hope that Christmas is how you each need it to be. Our support pages provide links and contact details of specific services for if you are experiencing any kind of crisis.

For anyone who has not registered with us we encourage you do using this form so we can give you opportunities to make connections with like-minded people. Registration costs you nothing, and helps us to keep the spaces safe for all of our members, we can support any access needs new members may have, and ensure you have the information you need. We also have a WhatsApp community that members can join.

If you are struggling to complete the form you can come to a session/group and one of us would be happy to help.

Our email inbox will not be monitored 23rd December-1st January

Registration form notifications go to an alternative email address, and will reach us.

Equalities Minister Meeting

Since the Supreme Court judgement in April, members of Rainbow Bedfordshire have been lobbying our local MPs to support trans, non-binary and intersex people’s rights, and urging the government to listen to trans+ voices when making policy that affects these communities.

Mohammad Yasin MP for Bedford and Kempston has been very supportive, writing to the Minister for Women and Equalities on our behalf.

Last week we were delighted when Mr Yasin invited us to join him to meet with Equalities Minister Olivia Bailey in Parliament. We asked the Minister questions about the EHRC guidance, the Equality Act and the forthcoming legislation on hate crimes and conversion therapies. Most importantly, we shared stories from our members of how the worsening atmosphere for trans+ people is affecting their lives.

We asked the Minister to:

• Take steps to protect trans people from the indirect effects of the Supreme Court ruling in services and employment;

• Reject the EHRC code of practice and require that any new Code of Practice ensures providers can lawfully include trans people in their services;

• Allow Parliament to debate any new Code of Practice and have a free vote on it, rather than passing it via negative procedure;

• Commit to consulting with trans organisations and experts on future guidance and legislative changes affecting trans+ communities, following the principle of ‘nothing about us without us‘.

unbinaried book launch

unbinaried is a collaboration between Rainbow Bedfordshire and the radical education and humanities group, a loose collective of academics at the University of Bedfordshire. The details for the book launch event can be found here.

General members meeting moved.

The general members meeting scheduled for 12th November has been moved to January. Further details will be available nearer the time.

External calendar integration

For those who want to connect the Rainbow Bedfordshire calendar to their own google, ical, outlook, etc calendars, please use the feeds below:

ICal/Apple/Outlook

Google (Bugged, will not sync recurring events, fix in progress)

Please note that changes made on the Rainbow Bedfordshire website can take up to 24 hours to propogate to these feeds. For the latest event information please always confirm on the website.

Website refresh now live!

Our new website is now live, providing improved navigation, updated accessibility options, an updated calendar system with google/ical integration and much more.