Pride Month

June is Pride month, the commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall uprisings and a time to honour equality and enhance awareness. Although this year rallies and marches have been postponed, we must still gather our forces and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

For decades Pride has been a time to illuminate LGBTQ voices, to listen and to salute the work of activists like Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

The LGBTQ movement has done hugely well to ameliorate prejudices and injustices however, there is still a lot of work to do. In over 70 countries it is still considered a criminal act to be gay. The death penalty is permitted for homosexuality in 8 countries. During this pandemic, divisions have widened. Inequalities and hate crimes have dramatically worsened, with Asian hate crimes increasing by over 300% and 15% of LGBTQ+ people experiencing violence or abuse during lockdown.

Covid has heavily impacted the LGBTQ community. Rates of job loss were over 16% higher in the LGBTQ+ community than in the cis-gendered and straight.

Enforced closures to youth clubs and safe spaces have meant vital support systems have been lost by the LGBTQ community.

As funding continues to be cut it is imperative that we at Camden, build awareness in our school and help create a louder voice for the LGBTQ+ community. We must actively stand up for LGBTQ+ rights, we must educate ourselves and we must celebrate and welcome diversity and differences.

This year Pride in London will take place across the weekend of September 11th, with themes of Visibility, Unity and Equality for all communities.

“What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains.” - Tennessee Williams

“Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.” - Barbara Gittings

Below we have linked some resources:

Elspeth 10R