Towards the Future: Pride and Community

February 28th 2022 — LGBT History Month is at its end but what can it tell us about the future? We spoke to two UK LGBTQ+ leaders to answer these questions.

Kaylee Golding is a DJ and radio personality from Birmingham and the founder and host of ON YOUR GAYDAR, an LGBTQ+-focused podcast.

ON YOUR GAYDAR’s most recent episode discusses the question “Could you be in a relationship with someone in the closet?”, alongside the UK’s LGBTQ+ club scene.

“I didn’t see me”, said Kaylee. The UK’s gay club scene is dominated by white gay men and caters primarily to that demographic. Other groups in the LGBTQ+ community often don’t see music, fashion and art that reflects their experiences. She decided to start ON YOUR GAYDAR after seeing a lack of representation for her experience as a gay Black woman.

“There’s LGBTQ+ content out there of course, but there’s nothing I felt really resonated with me as a person”, said Kaylee. “Everything was [aimed] more towards white cis gay men, and that’s not the gay experience that I had”, she added.

ON YOUR GAYDAR focuses on the experiences of average people, not celebrities. It’s an open platform where LGBTQ+ people can discuss issues important to them.

Kaylee said: “I feel like we’ve gotten used to as a community, just our community living in a club”, and she often feels like she doesn’t belong. Kaylee is working towards building a more diverse range of LGBTQ+ spaces from podcasting studios to weekend brunch.

Kaylee has organised a number of popular brunch events where LGBTQ+ get-togethers aren’t just at clubs or raves. She said: “The reason I’ve done a brunch as well is because that’s something that’s really really popular amongst my generation, but there’s not really that many LGBTQ+ brunches out there”.

We then spoke with Clive Duffey, an LGBTQ+ activist from Hertfordshire. Clive is a co-founder and director of Herts Pride and co-founder and trustee of the LGBT charity Ask For Clive. He also is an LGBT advisor for police in Hertfordshire.

Ask for Clive is a charity partnering with venues and community spaces to make them more inclusive for all, putting up welcoming signs, and giving the venues briefings on how to handle discrimination and hate crimes.

In 2010 Hertfordshire hosted their first LGBT gay health conference which inspired Clive and a small group of others to discuss forming a more active LGBTQ+ community locally. Clive said: “Because we’re on the Hertfordshire-London border we’re transients. Everyone would travel into London rather than go local”, he wanted to change that and create more spaces for the LGBTQ+ community in his area.

Weighing up the pros and cons of being LGBTQ+ in Hertfordshire, Clive said: “It was realised that, certainly in Hertfordshire at the time, there was a lack of anything for the LGBT community”, he said.

From there they decided Hertfordshire Pride would be possible, but they would have to organise it themselves. In 2013, that effort paid off with the first Herts Pride event.

Nine years later and Herts Pride is more successful than ever. “Where else can you see thirty great acts on stage for a tenner?”, said Clive. Last year they maxed out on attendance, with 5000 attendees. It’s known as one of the “best family prides” in Britain.

Jack Rose performing at Herts Pride 2019. Courtesy of Jack Rose.

Community-building for underserved groups within the LGBTQ+ community has been important in bringing this community together, and of course, into the future.

Originally published at http://henryfoxportfolio.wordpress.com on April 12, 2022.