IT started as a reaction to anti-gay sermons being preached in Bournemouth Square.

But a decade on, Bourne Free is established as the town’s annual celebration of diversity.

The event is a weekend of entertainment at the Triangle, with a Saturday parade through town.

It has become such a fixture on the calendar that it is easy to forget how febrile the atmosphere was in October 2004, when a group of evangelical Christians announced their plans to Bournemouth to preach against homosexuality.

Organisers from the group Christian Voice had called their event Harry Hammond Day, in memory of a street preacher who had been fined for a public order offence after voicing extreme views in the Square. He died before an appeal could be heard.

Mr Hammond’s views were denounced by his own granddaughter, who said he was a paranoid schizophrenic and that his views were a result of his mental illness.

She told the Echo at the time: “None of us condone what he did but he was not of sound mind and it’s very upsetting to think that people who are of sound mind are planning to use his name to promote their own bigotry.”

Peter Lovegrove, now chair of the Bourne Free organising committee, was at the discussions which set up the gay pride in event in opposition to Harry Hammond Day.

“We’ve had messages of support from the Hammond family to say it was nothing to do with Harry himself and they apologised for any distress they may have caused, which I thought was pretty decent of them,” he recalled.

“A few of us got together and said this is not on – these people are coming to preach in Bournemouth Square and we feel we ought to do something to show the public that we’re not as bad as these preachers are making us out to be.”

Supporters included then Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy, who sent a message saying: “Celebrations like Bourne Free play a vital role in increasing understanding about sexuality and breaking down the barriers which lead to discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.”

The shadow chancellor of the day, Oliver Letwin, and north Dorset MP Bob Walter also sent messages of support.

Organisers of the gay and lesbian community’s planned fun day in the Lower Gardens were linking it to the 150th anniversary of Oscar Wilde’s birth as well as to the protest.

Michael Halls of the Intercom Trust said: “No violence, no confrontations – people can simply make their own minds up as to which group is more socially responsible and more fun to be with.”

As the day of the march approached, Bournemouth’s town centre team rector Canon Jim Richardson appealed to the visiting preachers.

“This is not the way for Christians to behave,” he said. “We must learn to respect each other. This is not the way to go about things.”

In the event, the October Saturday passed off peacefully – and it was successful enough to return on a larger scale as a summer festival.

Bournemouth was estimated to have the fourth or fifth largest gay population outside London. Mr Lovegrove said organisers had been keen for straight people to get to know the gay community and had added other events to the glitzy entertainment at the Lower Gardens bandstand.

“It wasn’t just men in dresses. We were the boy next door, the guy from the paper shop and the man walking down the street – we were ordinary people,” he said.

The police, who had to balance the two sides’ right to make their point in that first year, have earned the respect of organisers.

Mr Lovegrove said the force had been supportive on practical issues such as road closures, as well as when organisers were faced with trouble. “Wherever there’s any harassment going on, such as homophobic abuse in the Triangle, whether it’s Pride or throughout the year, they’ve always been very supportive,” he said.

Although the event runs into little trouble, Mr Lovegrove says society is still not equal.

“Every year I do news interviews and I’m always asked ‘Well, with the new Equalities Act coming in, why do we need Pride? Why do we still do it? Why don’t we have Straight Pride?’” he said.

“Yes, we’ve come a long way but if you walk down the street hand in hand, two guys together, you’re still going to get abused. There’s still a long way to go.”

This weekend’s Bourne Free will be the first since same sex weddings were introduced.

“I would love to be able to have the first gay marriage at Pride,” said Mr Lovegrove.

• Bourne Free takes place this weekend, July 11 to July 13, with the theme Decades. The parade is on Saturday, July 12, starting at the East Cliff at 11am and finishing at the Triangle at noon. Details are at bournefree.co.uk.