This leads me onto Pride in London, or rather, the pride that I do not recognise. It says a lot that I will travel 13 hours on a plane to LA to partake in the parade there, but I wouldn’t travel 45 minutes on the Victoria line to go to the corporate joke that has become London pride. Stonewall made a huge statement this year by pulling out of London pride back in February after accusing the organisers of failing to represent people of colour. At this year’s parade on Saturday, the march was hijacked by a group of transphobic lesbians. They took over the front of the parade, handing out anti-trans propaganda, while the police and Pride organisers allowing them to continue. Pride in London failed our trans siblings, failed our community, and they need to do better.
This is why I am so thankful for UK Black Pride, which takes place the day after Pride in London. It’s not only a celebration of the Black and POC LGBTQ+ community, but an essential space that provides a platform for activists, community organisers and organisations alike, to remind us of the struggles we have faced and overcome as a community, but most importantly to recognise and remind us that there is still so much more for us to fight for. In the words of Audre Lorde, “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”
UK Black Pride brings together the shades of the diaspora, people young and old, and provides a platform for us to celebrate our culture, heritage and identity without feeling tokenised, alienated or like we don’t belong. UK Black Pride is home, it’s power and it is an indomitable movement led at the forefront by the inspirational Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah.
Read more: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/xwkz8n/navigating-pride-for-the-first-time-as-a-young-queer-woman