We are proud to mark Pride 50 – the anniversary of the first Pride event in the UK – by revisiting the episodes of four past Change Makers podcast guests. From the remarkable Anil Sebastian and Dan Glass to the equally inspiring Jude Kelly CBE and Juergen Maier, they are all committed, in their own ways, to inclusion, equality and diversity. They shared their thoughts and stories about how they are furthering these causes through their work with podcast host Michael Hayman.
The annual Pride in London parade is taking place on Saturday 2 July and events are being held worldwide celebrating Pride and all that it stands for. LGBTQ+ Pride events are held annually in June across the world in honour of the Stonewall riots 50 years ago. Historian Nicholas Edsall explains that the “the best… analogy is with Rosa Parks’ refusal to move to the back of the bus in 1955, which sparked the modern civil rights movement. Within months after Stonewall, radical gay liberation groups and newsletters sprang up in cities and on college campuses across America and then across all of northern Europe as well”.
Our mission today, says Pride in London, is to be fully inclusive of all sections of the LGBT+ community and to provide both a celebration of LGBTQ+ life and a platform for continuing the fight for equality and challenging prejudice. Pride in London is proud to welcome people of every race and faith, whether disabled or able-bodied, and all sexualities and genders including lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, queer, questioning, intersex, transgender, genderqueer, gender variant or non-binary as well as straight and cis allies.
It’s time to ask, Pride in London urges us, what kind of world we want to see for LGBTQ+ people in 2072. At Seven Hills, we believe that allyship and activism are key to continuing the evolution of a movement that seeks to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues and campaign for the freedoms that will allow these communities around the world to live their lives on a genuinely equal footing. And change is here: podcast guest Mark Gatiss – listen to his episode here – and Queer Britain recently achieved the milestone of opening London’s first Queer Museum in Granary Square.
Find out how Anil, Dan, Jude and Juergen are committed to activism and allyship in the latest Change Makers edit here.