50 Years of Pride - Co-op Pride Update

Pride is a global movement of activism for equal rights for LGBTQ+ people, as well as being a celebration of diversity.

Pride exists today because of the famous Stonewall Riots in New York, in 1969. After a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a safe haven for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, there were six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement. As a result, the LGBTQ+ community came together to form the Gay Liberation Front and in 1970, the first meeting for the UK version of the group was held in the basement of the London School of Economics. The aim of the group was to demand the end of discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, by the law, by employers and by society as a whole.

In 1972, the UK Gay Liberation Front organised the UK’s first official Gay Pride March in London. Close to 2000 people joined the march but it is worth noting that despite it being decriminalised in 1967, homosexuality was still seen as an illness and employers could sack LGBTQ+ workers.

A huge part of the Pride movement is the allies. Several colleagues in the Your Coop Pride group are not from the LGBTQ+ community and are allies of the movement. If you are passionate about equal rights for all of your colleagues and would like to join the group, please see below (sign in to view).

Volunteering opportunity at Warwickshire Pride

For those local to the Warwickshire area, there is a volunteering opportunity in August to help at Warwickshire Pride, which will be taking place at the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington Spa. If you are interested in volunteering please see below (sign in to view).

Take part in Birmingham Pride this September

The annual Birmingham Pride is taking place in September. We previously attended in 2019 and 2021 with LGBTQ+ and allied colleagues. The event is over one weekend and we are looking to have a get-together at Pride. If you are interested in going to Birmingham Pride, please contact Beki Smallwood or Elliot Bateman on the emails above.