UK Black Pride Doesn’t Need To Justify Itself Anymore, It’s Vital To U.K. LGBT+ Movement
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As Europes biggest LGBTQI+ celebration of black and people of colour, UK Black Pride's very success defines its established and vital role at the core of the U.K. Pride movement.
From a humble black lesbian event at Southend On Sea – its co-founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, known to the community as Lady Phyll, has steered the event from the fringes to perhaps the most important U.K. pride event.
Speaking as the crucial event passes its 15th anniversary, Lady Phyll tells me they've reached record numbers. Despite a tumultuous pride season, with 500 prides around the world cancelling, over 30,000 people joined to watch this year's digital pride event.
Alongside this, they saw a surge in donations to them, and other black-led organisations, in part because of the global focus on Black Lives Matter.
Finally, Lady Phyll is in a place where she no longer needs to justify the pride, after infamously being told to "f**k off" and go to "normal pride" by a room full of white people.
"I don't have to justify our existence anymore," she tells me. "UK Black Pride is at the core of our pride movement."
“Now when people ask me ‘Whats the need for Black Pride?’ – well, I hate that question. My answer is ‘What would it look like if there wasn’t a Black Pride?’
"I feel that we have achieved, is what we always set out to do. We provide a safe space, a haven, where people can belong, and be with their chosen family. We centre black and POC queer voices in a way that no other pride does."
Every Pride Can Learn And ‘Unlearn’ From UK Black Pride
Lady Phyll rejected an MBE award because of the "toxic legacy of the British Empire" in 2016. She did so citing colonial criminalisation of same-sex relations, from India to Ghana, where her parents are from.
Under her stewardship, UK Black Pride has achieved success at a level no other pride has. It is an event that takes funding from corporates, without bowing to them, while staying connected to the communities it seeks to serve.
"Meaningful representations are fundamental, and we don't always get it right [at UK Black Pride], but we seek to address it by asking people to get involved.
“We say 'help us to learn, and unlearn what we need to'. It's why when we look at other Prides, we want them to learn from us because we have that experience."
Lady Phyll wavers on her next thoughts but treading carefully; she chooses not to stay silent. Going on to explain how she wishes more pride organisations would learn from them – and with them:
"It was interesting that for our 15th year anniversary, we had so many pride organisations message us. But some of the most prominent and visible – said nothing.”
Stopping, before naming which ones, she adds:
"I sometimes think the black POC community stay silent because we self-edit to be polite. To make sure others feel comfortable. But actually, it's our time to be comfortable. That means we might need to speak out about other peoples silence."
From here, she spoke directly to anyone one with a platform, from the LGBT media to all of us as individuals, she urges us all to speak out:
"The LGBT community is not exempt from being bigots, just because we're of a marginalised group. Everyone should use the privilege they have with their platforms, especially when you have access to something we don't.”
UK Black Pride 2020 Focused On Home, Isolation And Homelessness
UK Black Pride's theme this year was ‘Home.’ A topic aimed at reflecting a year, when LGBT charities gave advice, they never expected they would have to.
LGBT homeless charity Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT) urged young people not to come out during lockdowns, if it's not safe. A majority of their service users are black:
"Home means so many things to different people. But as we work with AKT, we have seen the stats that over 60% of their service users are BAME. That's too many."
"[Under COVID], we're having to sit and stay in families and homes that may be uncomfortable. We can't continue transitioning, or express ourselves we see fit. And for some of us, our families religion faith and belief play a big part [of home life]. That's why our theme was about combating isolation to allow people to connect."
But the event also took place in a pride season, wherein an uncoordinated move in the U.K., prides brands and organisations adopted the Progress flag.
"It goes a long way to talk about inclusion, so when I see brands and corporates using the progress flag that shows the trans, black and brown flag alongside the original Gilbert Baker flag design.
"It tells me people really want to look at inclusion in a really robust way. But I hope, and I say this all the time, that it's not performative. Waving a flag which does symbolise progress, doesn't dismantle racism. It has to be used alongside real action."
Running UK Black Pride, whilst leading Kaleidoscope, an international human rights organisation that advocates on behalf of LGBT people in countries where they don't have rights, Lady Phyll points to the fights ahead of us.
No single matter more important than the other, it is clear her focus from getting conversion therapy banned in the U.K. to undoing the damage in Botswana where LGBTQI+ people are being blamed for COVID – is all one fight.
One that needs us to work on together, to use our privileges to open doors, and provide a united front to dismantle racism, and prejudice towards the LGBTQI+ community.