How to support Pride Month 2021

At LucyLovesThis, we’re all about celebrating diversity, embracing equality and supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. Although Pride may look a little different this year, there are still so many amazing and meaningful ways to stand up, show up and support the community that brings so much joy, colour and love to our world.

Donate 

Donating is a good place to start when supporting Pride Month as there are so many charities doing incredible work for LGBTQIA+ causes. Here are just a few of our suggestions…

• Stonewall is a great foundation that fights for equality all over the world. Their campaigns have been instrumental in positive change in public policy across the globe.
• Kaleidoscope is another wonderful charity that is working toward equality across the commonwealth. Sadly, many countries still have yet to repeal outdated and homophobic laws from the past and Kaleidoscope focus on fighting for LGBTQIA+ human rights in these places.  
• UK Black Pride is Europe’s largest organisation celebrating LGBTQIA+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern descent. They are working toward creating more safe spaces for queer people of colour to create a sense of belonging for many marginalised people.
  
  

Volunteer

Although circumstances in the last year or so have changed the number of volunteering opportunities, there are still ways to become involved with the queer community and this year’s Pride celebrations:

• Volunteer as a steward for 2021 London Pride, although it’s slightly later this year, pride and love are all year round so get involved now!
• Volunteer with Just Like Us, work in schools all over the UK creating safe and educational spaces for young LGBTQIA+ communities.
• Bi Pride UK are currently looking for a variety of communication, managerial and coordinator roles to help support the charity. They focus on celebrating and creating space for those that identify as bi, bisexual, biromantic, pan, pansexual, panromantic, poly, polysexual, polyromantic, queer, fluid, heteroflexible, homoflexible or with no labels at all. 
• MindOut is an online mental health service for the LGBTQIA+ community, they are looking for volunteer counsellors to join their team of dedicated support workers. 
  
  

Watch

The past couple of years have produced some incredible shows and documentaries about LGBTQIA+ history as well as limited series that focus on the unique beauty of the queer experience. Just a few of our recommendations feature:

• Disclosure for an education on trans history in the media.
• Feel Good for a heartfelt celebration of queer love and exploration of gender identity.
• It’s A Sin is a heart wrenching and critically acclaimed drama that tells the story of a group of friends in the 80’s, on the brink of both self-discovery and the AIDS epidemic.

If you need inspiration for your next weekend binge, then head over to the @most Instagram page, where they post daily content from a huge range of Netflix shows that tell stories of LGBTQIA+ experiences and romances. 

Educate yourself

It can sometimes be exhausting for the LGBTQIA+ community to be the sole suppliers of queer education. There are ways that allies can become the best and most educated support systems, for example:

• The Stonewall Reader is an in-depth anthology of the history of the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights in the 1960’s.
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is the truly beautiful semi-autobiographical novel by Ocean Vuong and their coming of age story.
• The podcast Two Twos is the work of two black lesbians in London who are aiming to ‘bridge the gap’ between LGBTQIA+ people and Cis gendered straight people.
• Also try to make sure you’re using the right terminology – this glossary from Stonewall is very informative.
  
  

Follow LGBTQIA+ Media Outlets

Although the world of social media is sometimes hard to navigate, Instagram can be a good place to keep up with and support queer causes. These accounts are doing an amazing job of celebrating LGBTQIA+ stories and are a great way to fill your feed with educational content, celebration and love.

• @PINKNEWS celebrate LGBTQIA+ stories from all over the world.
• @them focuses on pop culture through the lens of the LGBTQIA+ community.
• @munroebergdorf is a model and activist who uses her unapologetic voice to inspire meaningful change through education and candour.
• @ukblackpride is the official Instagram page for UK Black Pride and is Europe’s largest celebration for LGBTQIA+ people of colour.  
  
  

Attend Events

London Pride is in September but there are plenty of ways to show up for the LGBTQIA+ community in the meantime. Or, if you’re looking for events to celebrate your own queer identity there are still a plethora of events going on throughout the summer.

• London Trans Pride is on June 26th this year and is a way to show support for some of the most marginalised people in the UK. The only dress code is to ‘wear flowers’.
• Attend Mama G’s Family Pride Party, a Pride celebration for all ages. This event celebrates gender-diverse families and encourages young people to celebrate their diversity from an early age!
• If you’re a parent looking for support in the LGBTQIA+ community, then The Queer Parenting Partnership is the place for you. Expect support from a welcoming community of queer parents looking to talk antenatal and postnatal education.
• UK Black Pride 2021, although not definitely a physical event this year, is recording a live event for the queer Black community to register their righteous anger at the events of the last year as well as celebrate queer Black love. 

London’s Annual Pride event is looking to go ahead in September this year, so go, be an ally, celebrate your own queer community and show the world that love is love! For even more events going on this year, visit Pride in London for a wonderful list of places and spaces celebrating Pride.

We love to see how you're celebrating Pride Month this year, so tag us on Instagram @lucylovesthis to show us how you're supporting equality, diversity and love!