50 people for 50 years - Celebrating our LGBTQ+ community
- Written byStudent Communications
- Published date 17 June 2022
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Since the Stonewall uprising of 1969, Pride has been a demonstration to fight against police brutality and hostility towards the LGBTQ+ community. What started as a response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a hub for the queer community, eventually triggered a wave of demonstrations all around the world, with the first official Pride march in the UK taking place in 1972.
This year, we’re celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Stonewall research has shown that the UK public support for the LGBTQ+ community is significantly higher than before. 1 in 3 people reported they actively ‘respect’ the community, and YouGov polling has shown that more than 7 in 10 British people would support someone close to them who came out as LGBTQ+. As a result, more people feel now comfortable being open about their sexuality compared to 2014 (Census 2021). According to the same poll, 71% of respondents say they would be supportive of a trans or non-binary family member coming out.
However, as Stonewall’s Trans Advisory Group points out in their Vision for Change 2017-2022, trans people are not receiving the support they need to feel comfortable and accepted for who they are and struggle to access public services and take part in everyday life the way others do. They point out that even though over half of trans people knew they were trans by the age of 13 (Metro, Youth Chances, 2014), half of respondents of the same report have not told parents that they are trans.
It’s obvious there is still a long way to go. According to Stonewall, 42% of students have hidden that they are LGBTQ+ at university for fear of discrimination, and 35% have hidden that they are LGBTQ+ at work for fear of discrimination.
As LGBTQ+ hate crimes have grown at double the rate of other forms of hate crimes over the past 2 years according to UK Government research, it’s important that we not only use this time to celebrate what the community has achieved thus far, but also remind ourselves that Pride is first and foremost a protest to continuously fight for the liberation of queer people around the world.
Understanding multiple identity and intersectionality is vital because LGBTQ+ people face challenges from multiple perspectives associated with their sexual orientation and/or gender identity as well as ethnicity and race, disability, age, class and other lived experiences. Pride Month represents an opportunity for us all to reflect on who we are as a diverse University community and to show up to support our diverse LGBTQ+ colleagues and students, enhancing the voice and understanding the difficulties people face, while celebrating the valuable contributions our community make to life at the University.
To celebrate 50 years since the first Pride march, we asked UAL staff, students and alumni what Pride and Pride Month means to them. From highlighting the power of protest to commemorating LGBTQ+ history, take a look at what they had to say:
Left: James, “Pride means that the world can change, and through fun, creativity and determination.”
Centre: Marlo, “Pride is the right to freedom of speech for those social groups that got rejected throughout history.”
Right: Maya, “Laughing loudly, smiling proudly and loving openly.”
Left: Chuyi, "Pride means to stand out and fight for people’s rights.”
Centre: Ewan, “Finding a community and uniting as one powerful group of people who can change the world.”
Right: Jahjay, “Unity, family and hope. It’s a time for the voices of those who have been silenced and unheard to speak up and resonate throughout the world. We exist, we are here, and we will never be broken.”
Left: Adam, “I moved to London on Pride weekend in 2015. It’s always had a special place for reminding me how far I have come in just a few short years! I’m looking forward to sharing it with my partner this summer and having a few drinks watching the parade.”
Centre: Alessandra, “Peace, love, happiness and inclusion.”
Right: Alexander, “A chance to uplift the voices of the most marginalised members of our community.”
Left: Elektra, “Pride Month to me is a celebration of individuality, self-expression and love.”
Centre: Jay, “Celebrating friends, love and making the world a better place.”
Right: Jerome, “Pride is about freedom. The freedom to love yourself first and love others.”
Left: Anna K, “Pride is a place where friends and strangers come together with shared values in the most positive way possible. The celebration of inclusivity and individuality is something I hope can continue to spread into every month.”
Centre: Anna L, “Accepting yourself, seeing beauty in yourself and not being ashamed of who you are, where you’re from, what and who you like. Not caring about others’ opinions.”
Right: Barnaby, “It means accepting how people want to express themselves and being happy with their choices. It’s about freedom and expelling negative and hateful attitudes.”
Left: Megan, “Pride is the joy of being your full self.”
Centre: Orla, “Pride means counteracting shame. It’s fighting the messages you’ve been told about being queer and how that is seen as a bad thing, when it’s actually something that’s really beautiful.”
Right: Oscar, “Pride to me means what people are proud to be. Whether you’re straight, bi or gay, I think everyone during Pride should be proud to be who they are and not let anyone else tell them differently.”
Left: Lauren P, “Pride is an inclusive community atmosphere for all types of people which I love.”
Centre: Lauren C, “Accepting myself, after a long time without it!”
Right: Maike, “Pride means that everybody can proudly and safely be themselves. The month is a great time to highlight that and celebrate diversity.”
Left: Sophya, “Being proud of who you are and remembering of the people who fought and are fighting for basic rights.”
Centre: Tanya, “It represents a minority community’s refusal to shrink away and make themselves small despite the scorn, rejection prejudice, discrimination and abuse society often deals to them.”
Right: Yoolim, "Courage."
Left: Patrick, “Pride means supporting and celebrating my friends, family and all those in the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Centre: Emma, “Pride is a great opportunity for LGBTQ+ people to celebrate our identities and everything the community has achieved so far, but we must remember that it is also still a protest. We cannot stop protesting until all of us are free.”
Right: Annie, “Pride means honouring those who have come before us to fight for our rights and freedom to express ourselves. It’s also a reminder that love has no limits, even though our current politics of scarcity keeps trying to convince us otherwise.”
Left: Aaron-Louis, “It’s about being unapologetically you, owning who you are and the things that make you special.”
Centre: Alise, “To me, Pride is the ability to express yourself authentically without feeling shame.”
Right: Dominic D, “To me Pride Month is the celebration of community and the togetherness of everyone.”
Left: Caitlin, “Being able to be yourself and be accepted. To be proud and part of a community that supports each other.”
Centre: Azamat, “To love and respect yourself.”
Right: Flossie, “A vision of safety.”
Left: Rush, “I always shied away from pride as I was afraid of the connotations that could come with it, now in recent years I’m finding it easier everyday to find pride in my identity.”
Centre: Scarlett, “Being a part of a community that is ready to support me with anything and everything.”
Right: Sidhant, “It’s a reminder to me that I am still defined by my sexuality and not regarded as a human being with equal rights. Pride means having to live without stigma everyday and perhaps make everyday a day lived with pride.”
Left: Charlotte S, “To me pride means being your authentic self without fear of the consequences.”
Centre: Dominic M, “Acceptance, inclusivity, pride in one’s identity, having a space to express oneself.”
Right: Fabiana, "Family."
Left: Elsie, “Inclusivity and a celebration of individuality and pride of who you are.”
Centre: Hong Ji, “Feeling happy and free to be myself.”
Right: John, “We will forever need Pride and Pride month to gather and celebrate with allies, friends, and lovers. It’s a time to be happy, see the progress we’ve made but be ready to march to preserve what we’ve fought for.”
Left: Khadeeja, “Celebrating one another, our sameness and all our differences.”
Centre: Josh, “Authenticity, love, and chosen family.”
Right: Joana, “A time to celebrate individuality, the beauty of our communities, and reflect on the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community, look at how far we’ve come and what things still need to change.”
Left: Charlotte X, “Expressing support and caring for people.”
Centre: Cara, “I take ‘pride’ in my sister. She is an inspiration to me for coming out to me first at a young age and having the confidence to be who she wants to be.”
Right: Dan, “11 months of the year society feels pretty intent on making us feel shame, so it’s nice we’re given a 1 month break in June.”
Left: Zhongping, “Personally, Pride means a lot to me, it’s to be able to celebrate and have a voice for people I love.”
Right: Zi Xin, “Inspiring and encouraging people.”