Happy Pride Month!

Happy Pride Month! VP Societies and Sport, Hannah Hockin, has put together a blog post signposting some of the ways you can celebrate Pride this year. From reading lists, to Pride parades and how to be an ally, there are lots of different ways to get involved with Pride.

In the words of Lady Gaga, ‘baby, you were born this way’.

June is Pride Month, a month dedicated to the celebration of LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and all other non-cisgender and non-straight identities) culture, community and pride!

Why June? 

Pride month is celebrated every year in June because of the Stonewall riots, which were the catalyst for the 1960s Gay Liberation Movement. During the 1960s, police forces were raiding gay bars and clubs on the premise that these were illegal, mafia-owned establishments in which homosexuals gathered to drink and behave 'disorderly'. Whilst these raids had been going on throughout the decade, it wasn't until the 28 June 1969, that tensions between the police and New York's gay community erupted. On this day, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood. The raid quickly went wrong, as police sought to restrain and arrest every patron within the club; violence and rioting ensued for several days.

How can I celebrate Pride?

Below is a list of different ways we can celebrate Pride:

• Attend a Pride parade or event - The UK’s biggest, most diverse Pride event, Pride in London will take place on Saturday 1 July. Last year, I volunteered backstage, and it was an amazing experience. I got to meet loads of different LGBT+ artists, such as Emeli Sandé, Ava Max and even The Vivienne. There are also plenty of non-London-based Pride events taking place across the country throughout the year.
• Volunteer or donate - If you'd like to get involved in volunteering with LGBT+ charities, you can use Find that Charity to search for local LGBT+ charities to work with.
• Educate yourself and those around you - The summer break is a great time to get clued up on the history of Pride. With plenty of films, books and tv shows centred around Pride and LGBT+ stories, there are many ways you can educate yourself and those around you. We've put together a brief LGBT+ history reading list to get you started.
• Campaign with Stonewall - Stonewall is the leading LGBT+ rights organisation in Europe, their website is full of helpful resources on campaigning for LGBT+ people.
• Support LGBTQ+ businesses, art and culture - If you're looking to engage with more LGBT+ media, for LGBT+ History Month, the SU put together some of their favourite LGBT+ films, television, books, art and poetry. 

Even if you’re not part of the LGBT+ community, you can still get involved with Pride Month as an ally!

How to be an LGBTQ+ ally

• Listen and educate yourself - Be an active listener and take the time to educate yourself on LGBT+ history as well as the challenges the LGBT+ community still face.
• Be careful with confidentiality and ‘outing’- If a friend ‘comes out’ to you (when someone tells someone else about their LGBT+ identity) they may want to keep it private. As an ally, you should keep this confidential and you should not ‘out them’ (outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT+ person’s sexual orientation or gender identity). If you do out someone, this can be incredibly damaging, as it takes away their power to tell their own story and can lead to lasting effects on their mental health.
• Don’t be a bystander - As a heterosexual and/or cis person, you possess a degree of privilege because your sexuality and gender identity have historically not been discriminated against or legislated against. Therefore, if you witness any prejudice, hate speech, discrimination, homophobia, biphobia or transphobia you should confront it, call it out and challenge it.
• It’s okay to mess up sometimes and it’s okay to ask! – If you accidentally use the wrong pronouns or use a deadname unintentionally, that’s okay! Just make sure you apologise and correct yourself. If you’re unsure of someone’s pronouns, it’s okay to ask.
• Uplift LGBTQ+ voices!

LGBT+ History Reading List

If you'd like to read more about the LGBT+ Community, below are several links to different Pride reading lists:

Waterstones - includes fiction, non-fiction, essential reads and new releases.

Haymarket Books -  A reading list of books about queer and trans politics, history, and liberation (p.s. there's a 40% discount when ordered directly from Haymarket Books!).

Bookshop.org - A list of recommended Pride books from the Booker Prize archives.

Good Reads - New and upcoming LGBT+ novels, memoirs, essay collections and more.