Jamie Windust (Photo: Poppy Marriott)
Pride. An event that began as a protest and a fight for human rights, in recent years, has seen its original ethos and message manipulated for corporate gain in favour of the illusive ‘pink pound’.
Despite this mass corporate pinkwashing of one of the biggest LGBTQIA+ events in the world, Pride In London continues to be one of the biggest celebrations of our community to date.
The intersectionality that flows through our community is one of the biggest sources of inspiration for many people. It allows us to tie our struggles and our joys together to really come together as a united force.
Stonewall quits Pride in London’s main parade
However, Pride In London over the past few years has come under fire for its representation of non-white people within the parade. Its denial of these issues, and the inability for organizers to discuss this with organisations such as Stonewall UK, has led to the UK’s biggest LGBT+ charity to not walk with the main London parade this year.
This statement of solidarity from Stonewall for LGBT+ people of color has been a signal of empowerment for many, and I for one support their decision to walk and support UK Black Pride, which occurs the day after.
The World Cup
Aside from this, there are other concerns for LGBT+ people attending on the day. The World Cup is in full swing, and England are back on the pitch on Saturday 7 July – the same day as our Pride celebrations.
This is something that is worrying a lot of LGBT+ people due to the strong, nationalistic and potentially ‘phobic views that come with traditionally cis-het white male football supporters. Obviously, this in itself is a generalization of people who support England and enjoy the football.
However, it is not an opinion plucked out of thin air. Harassment and LGBT+ discrimination last year was on the rise, and the new 75-point plan and statistics from the UK Government are showing that life for LGBT+ people in the UK currently is a struggle, and a fight.
The challenges of being non-binary and femme-presenting
As a non-binary, white, femme-presenting person, I understand the stress and the potential dread that can come with attending large scale events such as Pride. Although our intentions are good, we can’t always be within our LGBT+ inclusive bubble.
Public transport is always a struggle at the best of times, but when we are potentially going to be nose-to-nose with drunk, white, straight, cis-men, it’s a danger that we all feel and all are aware of.
But what can we do about this? Logistically speaking, nothing. The football will be on, and we may feel unsafe. Sadly, as an LGBT+ person within the UK, that is a fact of life for us. However, we need to remember that we have an opportunity to enter all scenarios in public with an open mind and a mild sense of optimism.
Football supporters, despite their bad press, aren’t all cis-het men who drink all day and leer at femmes in the streets. In reality, that is where cis-gay men at pride and football supporters fall into a similar category.
Stay vigilant, strong and proud
What we actively can do is remain vigilant, remain strong, remain proud and remain authentic to our lives.
We are celebrating our lives, our journeys, and all the other people’s experiences within one amazing day of celebration. If we see abuse, or potentially unsafe situations, our community spirit and sense of solidarity should kick in, and we need to be able to help our family out.
Let’s use pride as a way to show potential oppressors that our community will not be battered down or pigeonholed yet again by a mainstream organisation and group that continually see us as ‘other’.
This week I have been able to celebrate pride at many events across the capital that have been wildly inclusive, loving, celebratory, diverse and powerful. The ways in which intersectionality, and all types of bodies, abilities, ages, races have to come together to unapologetically tell their stories is something that London should be proud of.
We are a city that is capable of love, strength and pride. Let’s make sure we show that as best we can on Saturday.
Jamie Windust is Editor In Chief of Fruitcake Magazine.
