Coronavirus has sadly caused many prides if not all prides in 2020 to be canceled, which has left the LGBTQI+ community without a key part of their lives. Without a safe space free of judgement or discrimination, the LGBTQI+ community has created their own spaces online including Unite UK.
We felt it was super important to expand our platforms and create an online event for LGBTQI+ members around the globe to come together in one space, to celebrate pride. Months of planning will be coming to fruition on the 19th – 20th of June 2020 to celebrate Unity Pride, a pride dedicated to the LGBTQI+ community, celebrating all things queer.
Our founder Charl Summers has given us some insight scoop to why Unity Pride is so important right now.
“Pride is a milestone in many LGBTQI+ members lives, I personally remember attending Birmingham Pride, UK for the first time in 2017 and it changed my life. We wanted to bring a pride that reflects our community & not a corporate sell-out which many prides are becoming. It’s why all the brands involved are queer-owned and queer run, it’s why all the Panelists/Musicians are LGBTQI+ and the amazing team behind Unity Pride are all queer womxn.
We’ve hopefully created a space online where LGBTQ+ members and allies feel safe to celebrate themselves whilst remembering the importance of why pride exists.”
All money raised by tickets sold will be donated to Galop UK & Mermaids, as well as a donation from Unite UK on behalf of Unity Pride to Gender Intelligence. The main aim of Unity Pride is to ensure all are heard and seen, whilst Unite UK is a small platform compared to others, our goal is to support the LGBTQI+ community any way possible.
So, what are some of the discussions we’ll be having?
As well as panels, Unity has a full day dedicated to music from LGBTQI+ Artists, which will be all announced on the 15th of June (this post will be updated). A big part of pride is the music and celebration that takes part, and we didn’t want to lose that.
The pop icon foxgluvv has put together an amazing group of queer musicians to take the stage and perform for Unity Pride. “With the sudden cancellation of pride and live music, I’m sure a lot of people are missing the opportunity to celebrate their identities and our community. Although many pride events showcase LGBTQ+ artists in their lineups, heterosexual/cisgender allies are often at the forefront – and Unity Pride is tackling this with an exclusively LGBTQ+ lineup to take back and redefine pride, as we know it.”
As you can tell, we’re super excited to bring you Unity Pride. Tickets are now on sale, with 100% of proceeds being donated to amazing causes. Unity Pride hopes to give you that sense of community and feel like you belong, even in this current climate.
Our writer Abby Robson summarises why Unity Pride and digital spaces are so important for LGBTQ+ members.
“Creating digital pride spaces like Unity Pride is so important in keeping LGBTQ+ people safe and allowing us space to celebrate our pride whilst still tackling issues we face. I actually think that having prides online is creating a better space to have proper discussions and make changes, opposed to physical prides which are often just a party. Although it’s important to have fun and celebrate ourselves, I feel that digital prides are putting the education and crucial conversations back at the forefront of pride”
We hope to see you there! & if not, have an amazing pride month and keep safe.
