People from across London attended a mass kiss-in on Valentine’s Day in an attempt to give all people the ‘Freedom to Kiss’ without fear.

Attended by couples of all sexualities and gender identities from across London, the public kiss-in protest was held in response to new research conducted by Pride in London which showed that 54% of same-sex couples do not feel entirely comfortable kissing in public. The research was carried out in light of the growing number of cases where same-sex couples have been subjected to homophobic abuse for showing affection in a public place.

Over 1000 people responded to the survey, which asked participants whether they’d be completely comfortable kissing an LGBT partner in the public.  Though 46% said they would be comfortable kissing a partner in public, only one-third of that group had never had any issues with homophobic responses in the past. Meanwhile 86% of those who would be uncomfortable cited fear as an issue saying that they were frightened of verbal and physical abuse.

Bronac McNeill – who took part in the protest – said, “Now, more than ever before, we need more LGBT+ heroes, including our straight allies, to stand beside us and show why the right to kiss our partners in public – whatever their gender – is a freedom we should all enjoy.”

The event officially marks the launch of the Heroes theme for Pride in London’s 2015 parade.

Michael Salter, Chairman of Pride in London said, “This year, we are calling for participants in the Pride Parade to celebrate the heroes in their lives who have encouraged them to be themselves and have championed for the LGBT rights and the freedoms that we enjoy today and others that still need to be fought for like the freedom to show affection in public in the same way as anybody else.”

#FreedomToKiss forms part of Pride in London’s greater award-winning ‘FreedomTo’ campaign which launched last year and David Walliams and Russell Brand have already submitted a kissing selfie online.