Coventry Pride increases security in response to online hate

The organisers of Coventry Pride say they’ve received a slew of online hate, including one person who threatened to drive a car into the festival crowd. In response, the organisers have had to allocate a large percentage of the budget for this year’s event on security, to ensure the safety of those attending and their team of volunteers. They now hope that community sponsors and fundraisers might help with the cost of putting on the free event during Pride Month. Coventry Pride is a registered charity, run by volunteers.

Photo credit: I Am Royal Art

The news comes as more than 100 hate crimes, linked to Sexual Orientation or Transgender identity, were recorded by West Midlands Police in Coventry last year*. In data obtained by Midlands Rainbow as part of a Freedom of Information request, a further 53 have also already been reported in 2026 (partial year to 31^st May).

The data from West Midlands Police also highlights 7 hate incidents (Hate strands – Sexual Orientation and Transgender Identity) reported in Coventry in 2025, and 2 hate incidents reported so far in 2026. A hate incident, compared to a hate crime, refers to an occurance that wasn't a crime but that the victim believes to be motivated by prejudice. For example abuse shouted from a car. More than one hate incident by the same person or group of people, however, might count as harassment which could be classified as a hate crime.

In April this year, the Crime and Policing Bill was given Royal Assent, changing the law to make anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime and disability hate crime aggravated offences, in line with those offences motivated by race and religion.

Chair of Coventry Pride, Nick Cherryman, told ITV News Central that he is used to anti-LGBTQ+ threats, but that he's worried about younger people who may see the online hate and be deterred from attending Pride events.

 He said: "We had someone threaten to drive a car into the parade as it were. What I worry about is say, the young trans person or the young person just coming to terms with their sexuality going 'Oh no am I going to feel ok coming here? Am I going to be a victim, am I going to be attacked and stuff?'

"It does mean a large amount of what very small budget we have will go on things like security. We can't do these events if we can't keep people safe alongside making them feel like they belong here."

Coventry Pride is set to take place 27th-28th June 2026 at Fargo Village. The event will offer a two-day programme of live performances, community stalls, workshops, talks, panel discussions, art and exhibitions, and ‘spaces for reflection and celebration’.

* Data received from West Midlands Police as part of an FOI request.

Table 1. Hate Crime (Hate Strands - Sexual Orientation and Transgender):

Local Policing Area	Year
	2024	2025	2026 (partial year to 31 May)
Coventry	114	111	53

Table 2. Hate Incident - Non Crime (Hate Strands - Sexual Orientation and Transgender):

Local Policing Area	Year
	2024	2025	2026 (partial year to 31 May)
Coventry	7	7	2

“Please note that this data should be interpreted with caution. Comparing numbers of incidents/crimes can be misleading and does not necessarily indicate the likelihood of someone being a victim of crime. In addition, the number of incidents/crimes recorded in an area over a period of time can be influenced by a number of factors. Consequently statistics on incidents/crimes for one period may not necessarily be a good indicator of future incidents in that area.

“Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request may be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when interpreting the data.

“Hate crime data is recorded by monitored strands, including sexual orientation and transgender.

“The sexual orientation strand is not limited to LGBTQ+ identities and may include hostility based on any sexual orientation.

“A dip sample suggests that the majority of these records are likely to relate to LGBTQ+ identities; however, the force cannot confirm the precise number without reviewing each relevant record individually. However, such a search would significantly exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12).”