The Arc Is Long.
In the UK, February marks LGBT+ History Month, and perhaps there is no better time for Yeovil Pride to hold its AGM and an Open Meeting (than last Saturday).
To tell the truth, I’ve been trying to work out exactly what I want to say with this post, and I’ve been going over and over draft after draft trying to get it right, but today I found out that in recent days, the Council of Europe released a report that, to summarise, stated that “the UK is moving backwards in terms of LGBT+ equality.”
It’s something of huge concern, and something that should worry all LGBT+ people and our allies. The culture wars that have started to gain traction against queer people in recent years, in particular against our trans and non-binary friends and family, signal a regression in the rights of minorities. We must stand united as a community in our defence of our hard fought rights, thanks to the queer pioneers who came before us.
There is a cliché at play here that I first heard at Pride in London around 2017: “we’ve come so far, but we’ve still got a way to go.” It remains true almost five years since, and undoubtedly will remain true for the foreseeable future too. In our fight for true queer liberation and equality, we must be resolute in our continued fight.
That fight, for me, doesn’t take place on the streets of Soho or Canal Street. Whilst it’s paramount that cities such as London, Manchester and Brighton continue to act as beacons of hope and refuge for our community, both within the UK and globally, it’s important that we shift narratives in smaller cities, towns and villages too.
Starting Yeovil Pride in 2019 remains one of the best things I have ever achieved, giving a town of over 40,000 residents, with little more than an occasional ‘gay’ night, an annual celebration of Pride. It has allowed the LGBT+ community to come together to celebrate our identities whilst also taking further stands for contemporary issues facing queer people.
The reality is that as a charity, we rely on volunteers, and I’m not speaking out of turn when I admit that the coronavirus pandemic has scuppered our growth – though I’m pleased to say we continue to be excited about bringing Pride back to the town in 2022.
But all the momentum we started to build after 2019 evaporated with the lockdown. Thanks to a great team, we marked 2020 with almost exclusively virtual event and I’m so proud of the team’s efforts that made this happen in particular. And in 2021, we returned, with little more than 7 weeks notice and ever-changing Covid-19 restrictions, to the streets of Yeovil to celebrate once more.
None of this would have been possible without every single volunteer dedicating their own time and effort.
As we look towards our event this year, and towards growing our charity so that it meets its charitable objectives as well as throwing an annual Pride event, now is the time for LGBT+ people to join the fight for our rights.
There are countless different organisations, each working towards similar goals, so whilst I talk about Yeovil Pride as it’s dear to my heart, any would gratefully welcome additional support. After all, it takes a village to achieve the vision of LGBT+ equality that we want to see.
The reality, I’m saddened to report, is that in Britain: the endless, almost daily, attacks on parts of our community are likely to increase; the culture wars ‘debating’ the rights of trans and non-binary people will intensify; the erosion of hard won rights for LGBT+ people will be reneged.
So, this LGBT+ History Month, take a moment to stop and reflect on this year’s theme – ‘Politics In Art: ‘The Arc Is Long’’ – and ask yourself: “What can I do to help step towards queer liberation?”