Every year, during these four weeks, Pride events and gatherings are attended by LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ people to recognise and celebrate the impact that this community has globally.
Some people may be surprised to learn that the first Pride event in the UK was held almost 50 years ago. The Pride movement started in London and really gathered momentum in the 1980s, and now in 2020, there are more than 100 Pride groups in UK towns and cities, with thousands of supporters who come together for events, activities and socials. There are Pride communities in Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester, where the 3 Unilife campuses are located and Unilife are proud to support and participate in many local Pride events every year.
Portsmouth Pride
Since Portsmouth Pride was established in 2017, the popularity and volume of its activities have magnified each and every year. Originally, the remit of this group of local LGBQ+ people was to put on a one day Pride event, ‘to raise awareness through entertainment’. It progressed in 2018 to a bigger main event that encompassed the launch of the Portsmouth Pride Youth Society (PPYS). Last year, the city held the biggest Pride event ever, and the main extravaganza included wonderful performances by local drag performers, musicians and the PPYS. 2019 also brought a number of Pride fundraising events.
Pride goes online
In 2020, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Pride events organisers have become incredibly creative and modified many of the events that were on the social calendar so that community activities can still go ahead - with virtual events online.
Portsmouth Pride has been running a weekly ‘Community Conversations LIVE’ online events series. The hosts talk to a different guest every week, live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube, at 7 pm every Thursday. Recent guests include local drag performer, Clare Deloon and Aaron Carty from UK Black Pride. Portsmouth Pride welcomes its Facebook followers to submit questions for the weekly guests, so visit @portsmouthprideuk to see the lineup and join in the conversation.
Portsmouth Pride has also been promoting local drag artist Cherry Liqor’s online show and bingo event during the lockdown. From now on, on Thursdays at 8 pm, her event will be live and people can book a table at Hampshire Boulevard to join her in person. Cherry has also been entertaining her 3500 Facebook followers with her singing videos; in one, ‘The Drag Can Can’ she showcases images of famous drag artists whilst singing along to the high energy can-can number.
Southampton Pride celebrations
Southampton Pride (Southamptonpride.org) has revamped their usual annual Pride event on Saturday 29th August and turned it into Southampton Pride Digital! It’s on the same day, with the tagline, ‘A new way to show you’re #SOPROUD’. It’s going to be an online event to remember - the full line up of entertainment, music and dance will appear on the event page over the coming weeks – so search ‘Southampton Pride Digital’ on Facebook for details.
Winchester Pride
Hampshire Pride 2020 in Winchester was cancelled this year but the organising team, like so many, has confirmed the new date for next year (25th April). This community has still been keeping everyone entertained and connected during #PrideMonth on their Facebook page (@HampshirePride) with posts and videos from Adam All and Apple Derrieres, The Art House, and other local Pride partners.
Global Pride online
Around the world, online Pride Month events have been a massive hit this year. What has to be one of the highlights was on 27th June, when 500 Pride organisations from 92 countries of the world came together for Global Pride 2020. The month-long Pride celebrations, in their new form, culminated in this 24 hours online live-streamed Pride festival, attended by international artists and world leaders, with over 12,000 viewing it live online. Local Pride followers were delighted to see that the UK portion of the stream, featured Aura Jay, Drag Queen DJ(@Aurajayy) expressing herself with an amazing Madonna mashup & lip-sync.
The usual annual physical gatherings that were planned may have been postponed for Pride Month 2020, but the celebrations and community spirit continued - everyone has remained truly united!
Roll on Pride Month 2021!
Did you celebrate Pride Month and have some videos, photos or stories to share? We’d love to see them! Send them to us – the best post will receive a BIG mention.
