Pride Blog
IT’S PRIDE MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Pride season (for those going ahead) starts here.
The questions I hear most often at this time of year are ‘Do we really need another pride?’ or my favourite ‘When is straight pride?’
I’ll try to explain, so please bear with me.
Looking up Pride in the dictionary….pride is:
- a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
- consciousness of one’s own dignity.
- confidence and self-respect as expressed by members of a group, typically one that has been socially marginalized, on the basis of their shared identity, culture, and experience.
- the best state of something; the prime
Last night I walked into The Ship Inn by myself. It was the first time I had entered a pub alone in 16 years. I bought a drink, had a laugh with the bartender (he’s a keeper!), sat in the beer garden and relaxed in the evening sun.
So why the 16 year break? Well last night I was dressed as me, nothing riotous (except the heels!), The Ship Inn is a safe space, and, just by being there, I expressed all 4 of the dictionary definitions.
I can’t walk into a pub alone in ‘boy mode’. I just can’t, I think everyone is staring at me and I don’t feel safe. Yes, I know how this sounds but it is true.
Having a space in which you can just be, like The Ship Inn, allows you to feel a sense of being, and that fosters a sense of pride. If I was ‘straight, cis etc’, that would be almost any pub, almost any festival, almost any parade… you start to get the idea.
So, it’s not really too much to suggest a pride season is it? But here is the thing, as I sat in the beer garden, I watched straight boys chatting up straight girls, people of unknown sexuality, gender, social orientation, they were all just being themselves, and while a couple were being way too much themselves by 11pm, it was relaxed and fun. Everyone was welcome.
Not all pubs are like this, not all events include all the community… So straight pride happens every damn day, and, hell yes, we need Prides. With the attacks that our community is seeing at the moment I’m going to suggest we need them now more than any time in the last quarter of a century.
So please follow any advice you are given if you are attending a Pride, keep safe and enjoy pride season! We will be blogging the good and the bad about Pride here all summer!
And one more thing, it’s never just the LGBT+ community that has been disrespected, marginalised, treated differently based on an inherent characteristic. There are many people who find themselves feeling like that, and as the straight boys and girls found out at The Ship, it’s a welcoming place where you are automatically considered an ally……. Just like pride.
See you next week…
Shea – Medway Pride Radio www.medwayprideradio.co.uk
Posted: 17/05/2021 by Hilary Cooke Leave a Comment
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.
The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
The Day represents a major global annual landmark to draw the attention of decision makers, the media, the public, corporations, opinion leaders, local authorities, etc. to the alarming situation faced by people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.
May 17 is now celebrated in more than 130 countries, including 37 where same-sex acts are illegal. Thousands of initiatives, big and small, are reported throughout the planet.
The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia has received official recognition from several States, international institutions such as the European Parliament, and by countless local authorities. Most United Nations agencies also mark the Day with specific events.
Although LGBTQIA+ human rights have improved in some countries the equality rights and injustice still exist and there is still imprisonment and death sentences in many countries around the world for being part of the LGBTQIA+ community. The TRans & Non-binary community are at the forfront of chalenges to their human & equality rights here in the UK and in the USA, with access to medical treatment being removed or restricted, support and equality rights being challenged in court with the aim of rolling back rights held for over a decade.
We stand with the LGBTQIA+ community in their fight for human and equality rights to bring equity to access services and remove the barriers the community face.
Take a few seconds to say that you care
Today more than ever it is important that “Together, we Resist, Support, and Heal”