We must still celebrate Pride this year
Prospect organiser Rob Lauder says that while Pride will be different this year, it is still as vital and necessary as ever.
Prospect members at Pride 2019
Welcome to the official Pride Month! I say official Pride month – as you can now find Prides happening all year round which is great!
Firstly, a big shout out is needed to all of the keyworkers who were out on the frontlines supporting us all!
So it won’t look like it normally does this year – there are no parades being held, there are no parties and a lack of a festival feeling. However, that does not mean that the LGBT+ Community is not pulling together.
Pride is less of the protest march than it was 50 years ago, but just because it has changed doesn’t mean that it is not important.
Pride is all about being seen and accepted. It’s important that, in these troubled times, that the main aim of Pride is celebrating our community, being visible and being seen.
Celebrating our differences, and remembering that we have more in common than separates us. None of us are solely one thing – we are made up of many parts. We must support each other.
The lockdown has meant that a lot of us are at home, either working remotely or furloughed. For some of us, working from home hasn’t changed the jobs we undertake massively. I am lucky enough to be sat in my kitchen writing this blog. I can hear my flatmate on his calls working from the living room. I’m not alone. I haven’t had to hide who I am to ensure a peaceful home life.
However, many LGBT+ people aren’t so lucky – being forced to retreat into the closet due to their living conditions, or fearing to be out at work in case of redundancies and being seen as ‘other’. For these people being part of the LGBT+ community is a necessary lifeline.
There has been a marked increase in homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic hate crime. Suicide rates for LGBT+ youth are three times that of their straight colleagues. Mental health is an issue that Prospect is trying to help with in these turbulent times.
While Pride may not be happening in the traditional sense – it is still important that we celebrate as a community.
Working remotely has taken away our face to face time, and shut down many of the safe spaces that the LGBT+ community had – but it’s been heartening to see so many people joining in online, creating new spaces for the community to meet. Whether that is through chat rooms and social media, blogs, webinars, or virtual coffee mornings.
Pride is a celebration of the victories we have gained, and recognition of those who helped create the social justice and legal equality we now have.
We might not be able to get out on the streets to showcase our strength as a community but we can, and should, make sure we are visible online about what we have achieved.
Stay strong and celebrate!
Rob