Brighton LGBTQ+ people reflect on what Pride means to them

Pride offers ‘sense of belonging’

Hove MP Peter Kyle (Image: The Argus)

Hove MP Peter Kyle said that for him, Pride is “part celebration, protest and party” and the annual celebrations offer LGBTQ+ people a “sense of belonging”.

He said: “As a youngster, I remember looking on, full of questions and apprehension.

“Later on, as an out man at ease with who I am, I joined the Pride board so I could invest back into an organisation that helped me so much.

“As I look on at Pride today, I know there’s still people looking to the day for strength, inspiration and a sense of belonging as well as a great time.”

Peter said his “gay hero” is rap and pop star Lil Nas X for “not just being gay but performing mainstream hit songs about it”.

He said: “He’ll have reached, inspired and normalised being gay for countless people around the world, many will be living with bigotry every day. For that alone, he deserves hero status.”

‘We must not give an inch in this fight for equality’

Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Image: PA/Yui Mok)

In 2018, MP for Brighton Kemptown Lloyd Russell-Moyle made history by becoming the first MP to disclose his HIV status in the House of Commons.

He said LGBTQ+ people must continue to fight for equality in the face of attacks on the transgender community.

Lloyd said: “All my adult life, I’ve seen nothing but greater equality for LGBT people: the abolition of Section 28, gays serving in the armed services and marriage equality.

“The path forward not only felt inevitable but naively felt irreversible.

“Now for the first time I feel progress slipping backwards. The hate-filled newspapers see their opportunity to dog-whistle with invented stories aimed at causing division.

“The lightning rod chosen is the most marginalised in our community - our trans brothers and sisters.

“We must not give an inch in this fight for equality and that includes remaining united against these attacks on the trans community.”

He also praised the transgender community in Brighton and Hove.

“They founded the first and largest Trans Pride in Europe, their sense of community and activism is always a source of admiration,” he said.

“I’m with them all the way in the fights we have ahead.”

‘Pride should be more than a marketing gimmick’

Cllr Raphael Hill, with fellow Green councillor Pete West, as she was elected in May's local elections (Image: The Argus)

Raphael Hill was elected Brighton and Hove’s first openly transgender councillor earlier this year.

While looking forward to next month’s Trans Pride, Raphael criticised the approach some companies have when Pride month comes around.

She said: “So often, Pride month is used as more of a marketing gimmick than something that is truly in spirit a commemoration of the Stonewall riots. Companies use Pride month because it’s profitable to them and helps to maintain a good public image.

“Corporations like Shell and BP have no interest in our future, nor the future of the planet.

“If we are going to have a month commemorating a movement spearheaded by homeless queer sex workers, like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson, it seems apt to do something that might help people who are struggling in similar positions in the present day.”

Raphael looks up to Georgina Beyer, the first openly transgender mayor and MP in the world.

“She was a leading advocate in New Zealand on many issues from Maori rights to reforms for sex workers to gay marriage,” Raphael said.

“She also helped make local government more accessible to local people during her mayoralty in Carterton.”

‘Pride helped me accept who I was’

Whitehawk and Marina councillor David McGregor (Image: Brighton and Hove City Council)

For Whitehawk councillor David McGregor, Pride was the first real moment he saw other people who were like him who were happy and proud of who they were.

He said: “That was a huge moment in accepting who I was as I had something to aspire to.

“Before then, a lot of media showed queer people destined for tragedy but Pride was my first sight of queer people happy and thriving.”

David’s LGBTQ+ icon is the late Paul O’Grady, who also performed as the drag queen Lily Savage.

He said: “I don’t think I’ve seen someone as quick witted and hilarious in my life, but beyond that he was always on the right side of history politically.

“Even months before he died, he was pushing for the rights of trans people. Paul was a real light for us that’s sadly done.

“I’ll miss that impact, even if I didn’t even meet the man.”

‘I don’t have to live in fear or hide’

The Great Pottery Throw Down star Adam Johnson (Image: The Ledward Centre)

Adam Johnson, finalist of The Great Pottery Throw Down, said he is grateful to live in Brighton with his partner Dan, where he can live “out and proud in our wonderful city”.

He said: “Brighton is diverse and welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community and I consider myself very lucky to live here, we walk hand in hand in the street and don’t have to live in fear or hide who we are.”

However, Adam said the world is “becoming quite scary for LGBTQ+ people at the moment”.

He said: “Pride as a month or a day are moments for us to all come together in solidarity and support - to show those living in fear that there is a community who loves them and to show those who have strong feelings against us that we are simply good people trying to live our lives with pride and love.

“We are everyone - we will always make sure we support one another and protest against anyone who seeks to divide us.”

Adam recently met comedian Joe Lycett and gave him a tour of Brighton. He said that he has become a role model for him for the way he stands up for communities, even when it might not be popular.

“Joe has repeatedly shone a light on hypocrisy and injustice in the world and stood up for the LGBTQ+ community,” he said.

“He uses his celebrity for clever and funny debate which allows it to reach further.

“Whether holding to account the actions of Liz Truss, BP or David Beckham he says what a lot of us are thinking.

“Championing or protesting with the LGBTQ+ community using his platform in real-time, with integrity and ingenuity which I think makes him an icon.”

‘Pride is a reminder that everyone is equal’

Interim CEO of The Sussex Beacon Matthew Dendy (Image: The Sussex Beacon)

The Sussex Beacon, founded at the height of the Aids epidemic, provides specialist care and support living with HIV.

The charity holds annual events, including the Brighton Half Marathon, and works to challenge the stigma that still surrounds the virus.

For Matthew Dendy, interim CEO of The Sussex Beacon, Pride is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

He said: “In the case of Brighton and Hove in particular, we are especially blessed to have such a vibrant and enthusiastic LGBTQ+ population.

“Sadly, there remains a certain amount of prejudice and discrimination aimed at LGBTQ+ people. This is even more significant in other parts of the UK and, indeed, most definitely in other parts of the world.

“Therefore, Pride is also an important opportunity to remind the wider community that everyone is equal.

“A considerable amount of The Sussex Beacon’s current focus relates to stigma; particularly HIV stigma, but also stigma relating to being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Quite simply, we need to say goodbye to stigma.”

Matthew highlighted Sir Elton John, who recently performed his final UK gig at Glastonbury, as his LGBTQ+ icon, praising him for his work around HIV and Aids.

He said: “Sir Elton is obviously an incredibly talented man, whose ability to move with the times is extraordinary.

“Furthermore, his creation of The Elton John Aids Foundation took the conversation about HIV and Aids to a whole new level, not only in the UK and USA but globally.

“Without question, he is one of the most remarkable individuals of our time.”

‘Celebration, but also a fight’

Star of RuPaul's Drag Race UK Anubis

Anubis attracted attention and admiration after appearing on the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

She said, for her, Pride is about freedom, empowerment and love, but that it remains a protest to continue the fight for equality.

“Pride is a celebration of colour and fun but it is also a fight and a movement,” Anubis said.

“Our community is under attack at the movement and it is in times like these when we must stand together and look after each other most."

Anubis is working on her debut album, which centres around the challenges LGBTQ+ people face, as well as loving and losing queer people.

With this in mind, she said that her LGBTQ+ icon is Blair Envy, a nightclub worker who died last year.

Blair Envy is Anubis's LGBTQ icon (Image: Club Revenge)

Anubis said: “She was an incredibly charismatic, uniquely wonderful and extremely kind trans woman I used to work alongside at our local bar in Brighton when I first started performing as Anubis.

“She always radiated kindness, positive energy and fun, and she has always inspired me to live my life as authentically me as possible.

“She was an incredibly strong, passionate and liberal person who always shone so bright and lit up every room she was in.

“She frequently passes through my mind and her memory encourages me to be kinder to, take time for and take care of the people you love and yourself.”

‘Chance to show gratitude to previous generations of LGBTQ+ people’

I Kissed A Boy star Ollie King (Image: BBC)

Brighton heartthrob Ollie King was among several contestants to star on the UK’s first gay dating show I Kissed A Boy earlier this year.

He sees Pride as an educational time and also a time for remembrance and reflection.

Ollie said: “It is a time to reflect on the people that have fought and marched and done the really hard graft for us to live the life we are able to live today.

“I use it as a chance to show my gratitude to the older generation for what they’ve done for me and the community.

“It is also a time for young lads to look in and see how great our lives can be, but also that it is ok to be gay.

“A lot of straight people think we just want a party, but they do not understand the job still isn’t finished. There is still a lot of homophobia and abuse out there - the battle is still going on.

“We will not be silenced and we will have pride after pride after pride - and if it has to turn back into a march and protest, then so be it.”

As well as Alan Turing, Ollie’s LGBTQ+ icons are George Michael and Freddie Mercury

He said: “They were very unapologetically themselves, and I love that trait in anybody. That is so endearing to watch and I just love it.”

'A feeling of solidarity and unity'

Leslie Pumm, left, while out campaigning during May's local election (Image: Brighton and Hove Labour)

Leslie Pumm, the council's equalities, community safety and human rights committee chairman, recently got engaged to his partner, Harry Clarke.

He said Pride holds an important place in his heart.

"Every year when we parade through the streets, it's an incredible feeling to see all the colours, dancing to the music and shouting our messages," he said.

"It's a feeling of solidarity and unity in the fight for human rights. That's why Pride will always have a special place in my life."

Leslie's LGBTQ+ icon is pop star Lady Gaga. He said: "She's been campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights for many years and her album Born This Way has empowered so many of us."