Ride with Pride: TfL’s rainbow bus tours London to celebrate diversity

A rainbow bus celebrating London’s LGBT community set off for a tour of the city today, ahead of the capital’s Pride festival in June.

With drag kings and queens on board, the bus stopped off at St Paul’s Cathedral, gay venue The Vauxhall Tavern and Buckingham Palace for a photo shoot, before making its way to Brighton this morning.

The rainbow bus, which usually runs on routes 8 and 15, was launched in 2015 as part of the #RidewithPride campaign.

In the run up to London Pride on June 25, driver Danny Dudziec drove the bus with drag queen Michael Twaits and drag king LoUis CYfer on board.

He said: “London Pride is quite important to me – this year I’ll be driving the pride bus in the parade. It’s quite a privilege.

“The bus represents diversity in transport for a lot of people – people that work in the industry but those that use the services as well, so that people feel more confident to be who they want to be.”

Drag king LoUis CYfer said: “I think it’s brilliant to be involved – I can’t wait for London Pride and to see all the acts on stage.

“What is it like being LGBTQ in London? It’s just like being human in London but just with a bit more leopard print.”

Transport for London’s multicoloured bus is the first of its kind worldwide and has since inspired other rainbow buses in Toronto, Calgary and Brighton.

Martyn Loukes BEM, chairman of OUTbound (Transport for London’s LGBT+ Network), said: “It was great to see the rainbow bus off on its journey to Brighton today to mark the countdown to Pride in London 2016.