Black pride
The activist and model shares why Lady Phyll, John Cameron Mitchell and Hunter Schafer are her queer heroes this Pride month.
It takes more than a pandemic to get in the way of UK Black Pride, says its founder. It isn't just a celebration, it's a political necessity.
Zuva grew up in a strict religious family where there were no conversations about being LGBTQ+, the expectation was to grow up and be a good wife and a good mother. Having now come to terms with being bisexual, the student and journalist was looking forward to celebrating her first UK Black Pride. Due to Covid-19 it has been cancelled.
In 2005, Phyll Akua Opoku-Gyimah took a busload of queer Black women to Southend-on-Sea for a weekend escape and it was there that the idea for a UK Black Pride was born. Known as Lady Phyll, the UK Black Pride co-founder talks about why Pride and a UK Black Pride is necessary. The activist also speaks from personal experience of not seeing herself represented in mainstream events and what it feels like to see thousands of people reflecting all walks of life at UK Black Pride.
Reverend Jide Macaulay talks about reconciling his sexuality with his faith and practice. Macaulay, who is a theologian, HIV+ Activist and member of the clergy says he initially found it challenging to find his place as a a gay, Black and African man of faith. So, he founded House Of Rainbow (HOR), which works with LGBTQ and BAME people of faith, as well as their allies, creating safe spaces around the world. HOR also helps with asylum seekers, sexual health, counselling and pastoral care.
As the Black Lives Matter movement spreads around the world, UK Black Pride co-founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah talks about how best you can be an ally to Black people. Also known as Lady Phyll the activist speaks from personal experience about what it means to be proactively anti-racist. After George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis conversations around systemic racism and allyship have increased both in the UK and abroad.
I was ready to celebrate myself as a queer Black woman – but coronavirus had other plans.
Pride is a protest. And the economic and career prospects for ethnic minority LGBT+ people like me do not look bright in Brexit Britain, campaigner Lauren Pemberton-Nelson writes
The move, to "promote inclusion", has caused some fierce debate.
The heteronormativity of the Windrush scandal left out heroes like Ivor Cummings