Celebrating Pride 2023!
This article will take approximately 3 minutes to read
Published 6 Jun 2023 in Raising Awareness
Today’s story is all about Pride month, which is throughout June! There are a range of celebrations and festivals going on around the country, so have a read to find out more…
What is pride?
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.
What is The Pride flag?
The iconic rainbow flag has been a symbol of the Pride movement since 1978, created by San Francisco activist Gilbert Baker, who wanted to create an emblem of pride for the LGBTQ+ community. The flag originally consisted of 8 colours but due to colour shortages in production, this was eventually reduced to the 6 colours that you see today.
The colours have flag were inspired by the lyrics of Judy Garland’s ‘Over the Rainbow’ and has evolved over time due to become more inclusive of the wider communities. Black and brown colours were added to symbolise the struggles faced by queer people of colour.
Did you know?
A 2018 study showed that 51% of BAME LGBTQ+ people have experienced racism within the gay community.
More recently, a 2018 version was created by non-binary activist Daniel Quasar to recognise the Trans and non-binary communities, as well as those living with HIV/AIDS and those who’ve been lost to the disease.
During Pride celebrations, you will see many different versions of the Pride flag as well as others that represent all the identities on the LGBTQ+ community.
You can learn more about the flags featured that are part of Pride here.
Celebrate Pride!
There are many Pride Events taking place around the country, below is a list of pride events taking place near central locations and also our trading areas:
Pride Events going on in large central cities, or near to office locations:
Smaller events local to Your Co-op’s local community trading areas:
If you wish to attend, please book your tickets to the Pride event at the location of your choice – don’t forget to ask your friends, family and colleagues if they would like to attend!
How can I get more involved?
At Your Co-op, we have the Co-op Pride working group which meets together to create strategies and make decisions around the experience of LGBTQAI+ colleagues here at the Midcounties Co-operative.
You too can become part of this if you wish to commit some time and thinking power towards the group!
Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion are values which we feel extremely passionate about at Your Co-op and we feel that all colleagues, regardless of their background, should be able to bring their authentic selves to work.
If you wish to be more involved with any decisions such as those mentioned above, feel free to email DiversityAndInclusion@Midcounties.coop and see if there is an opportunity for you to represent!
The Co-op Pride working group represents colleagues from LGBTQAI+ backgrounds, but we also have other working groups passionate about inclusion towards All backgrounds and characteristics.
Please feel free to get in touch if you wish to contribute towards inclusion of all backgrounds, your own, or others.
We want to make the colleague experience more inclusive for All Ages, Disabilities, Genders, Partnerships, Relationships, Parents, Families, Races, Religions and Sexual Orientations, the best way do to this is to value the opinions of colleagues who represent these backgrounds.