In June, in the UK and many countries around the world, we celebrate and honour the LGBTQ+ community in memory of The Stonewall Uprising in 1969: a crucial point in the LGBTQ+ Liberation Movement. The Stonewall uprising took place in the context of broader civil rights movements. History proves that civil rights and pride were not two separate issues, The Black Panther Party and the Gay Liberation Front worked together on many occasions and participated in the riots. The US and UK movements were also connected, UK activists were involved in the US movement and in 1970 the first meeting of the British Gay Liberation Front was held at the LSE library and the first UK Gay Pride was held on July 1st 1972 in London. This year it’s on September 11, thankfully, a little more time to prepare our best outfits and social selves following lockdown!
Below are a few useful links and film/book suggestions that you may want to browse through at your leisure.
Right now, we’d like to highlight Q.U.E.E.R. Societie's brilliant new publication ‘Reaching for the Horizon’ Queer Fictions. The latest volume of their annual society publication presents work by talented queer artists in our community. @queer_society_rca are raising money for Gendered Intelligence, a trans-led grassroots UK charity working to improve the lives of trans people. Please donate and forward the receipt to queersocietyrca@gmail.com and they’ll post you the publication! Suggest £5 but please consider donating more if you can. Q.U.E.E.R Society are hosting a picnic in Hyde Park, 2 pm on the 19 the June, email them for the exact location.
Also, in Feb As part of our LGBTQ+ History Month celebrations, Lucas LaRochelle spoke to us about their project Queering The Map. Lucas gave a brilliant talk and we recommend you watch back via panopto, there’s also a great essay, ‘Fragments of a shattered urn’ to read in connection with the project. Queering The Map is a community-generated counter-mapping project that digitally archives queer experience in relation to physical space. We really recommend you check it out if you haven’t already!
A few film suggestions:
Welcome to Chechnya, 2020
How to survive a plague, 2012
Are you proud? 2019
A few book suggestions to get you started: there are many available as e-books on RCA library
The Stonewall Reader 2019
Stonewall: Breaking out in the fight for gay rights
We are Everywhere: protest, Power and PRide in the History of Queer liberation 2019
And loads loads more to look at on gayprideshop.co,uk
Resources:
MindOut is a mental health service run by and for lesbians, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer people.
LGBT Switchboard – Switchboard is an LGBT+ helpline – a place for calm words when you need them most. They’re here to help you with whatever you want to talk about. Nothing is off limits and conversations are 100% confidential. Call 0300 330 0630 (10am-10pm daily)
Stonewall’s Information Service is here to help with any issues affecting LGBT people or their families. Whatever your situation, you’re not on your own. They’ll do what they can to help or point you in the right direction of someone who can.
Useful Black Led LGBTQIA organisations Linktre
Pride events:
Campus Pride is a digital celebration of LGBTQ+ history, people, culture and related topics for education staff and students across the UK, delivered by a collaboration of 44 students' unions. Check out their events!
International Gay Pride Calendar: The global landscape for LGBTQ+ rights, protections and acceptance varies tremendously by location, with some destinations attracting millions of visitors to their events like Madrid Gay Pride, Sao Paulo Gay Pride or San Francisco Gay Pride, while more than 70 other countries have laws that allow discrimination or persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
Pride Events UK a full list of events taking place across the UK.
UK Black Pride Instagram / Website
"UK Black Pride is Europe's largest celebration for LGBTQ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent. We produce an annual celebration during pride month, as well as a variety of activities throughout the year in and around the UK, which also promotes and advocate for the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual health and wellbeing of the communities we represent"