Tag Archives: UK Black Pride

UK Black Pride 2019: Thousands Gather For Europe’s Biggest Celebration of the BAME LGBTQ+ Community

UK Black Pride is much needed event that celebrates the diversity of LGBTQ+ people and recognises unique struggles that queer people of colour – QTIPOC, or queer, transgender and intersex people of colour – face.

Having started as a day trip to Southend-on-Sea back in 2005, the event has grown in profile and stature in the last 14 years.

It is now Europe’s largest party for LGBT+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent, and creates a safe space for people from these diverse backgrounds to celebrate their sexuality, culture and shared experiences.

This year, the event moved to its new home in Haggerston Park in Hackney, London, so it could accommodate a much larger crowd.

And that it did, with over 10,000 people showing up to celebrate.

The theme was #WhenWeRise: a reminder of the crucial role black and brown people played in the Stonewall uprising 50 years ago.

The main stage had turns from Jason Kwan, NEO, Deanz and Charmer and headliner, MNEK. DJs pumped out everything from bhangra and Bollywood to reggae and dancehall.

Speakers included Glenroy Murray of Jamaican advocacy group J-FLAG, and Amber Hikes from Philadelphia: the woman behind the eight stripe rainbow flag which also includes black and brown stripes.

Stonewall Strengthens Board of Trustees with New Hires

Stonewall has announced the appointment of three new Trustees.  Katie Cornhill, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah and Tim Toulmin will join Stonewall’s established Board, led by Chair Jan Gooding, with immediate effect.

On the appointment, Jan said:

We are thrilled to welcome Katie, Phyll and Tim to the Stonewall Board. Their range of experience will help us to ensure that we reflect the needs of the diverse LGBT community.  A great deal of progress has been made towards legislative equality, but there is still a lot more to do, and many more communities to reach, until we can say that equality has been achieved for LGBT people. Our new Board members will work closely with the Stonewall leadership team as we continue on this journey.”

Katie is a Manager at the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, where she has worked for 17 years, and is seconded as the Functional Lead for Prevention, Protection and Safety at the Fire Service College. Her extensive knowledge of the public sector will support Stonewall’s work in this area. In addition, as a trans woman, Katie will help to guide the organisation as it undergoes the process of becoming fully trans inclusive and engaging further with trans communities.

Phyll is co-founder and Executive Director of UK Black Pride. She is also the Head of Campaigns for the largest civil service trade union, PCS. Phyll brings with her an unwavering commitment to workplace equality and social justice, which has secured her a seat on the TUC LGBT Committee. She also sits on the Board for Justice for Gay Africans which focuses on Human Rights, Equal Rights, challenging racism and discrimination. Phyll will play a vital role as Stonewall broadens its reach and goes deeper into communities in Britain and abroad.

Tim is the founder and Managing Director of Alder Media, a London-based communications agency. He is a director of travel PR firm MyTravelPressOffice and a Specialist Partner of Pagefield Communications. He is also a Trustee of the charity ‘Parents and Abducted Children Together’. His vast communications experience will be central to Stonewall as it continues to engage new audiences and work towards achieving equality for LGBT people in all aspects of their lives.

 

UK Black Community Shines Spotlight on Justice for Jamaican LGBTQ Community

UK Black Pride was proud to join UK Lesbian Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG) to stand in solidarity with Jamaican LGBTQ people who are fighting for their right to dignity and justice by co.hosting an event on Friday 13 June.

Almost 50 participants attended a special screening of the Channel 4 documentary ‘Unreported World: Jamaica’s Underground Gays’ at the offices of Wilson Solicitors LLP in London. The documentary sees Team GB Paralympian, Ade Adepitan, interviews Sachaberry and Krissy who movingly expose, in sometimes disturbingly graphic detail, the systemic extent of violence and homophobia against LGBT people in Kingston, Jamaica, as they try to live their lives.

Whilst homosexuality is not illegal, Jamaica’s anti-sodomy laws prohibit acts of gross indecency(interpreted as any physical intimacy between men in public or private). Such acts can be punished by 10 years of hard labour in prison and violence against the LGBTQ community is rife.

The UK Black Pride and UKLGIG screening was followed by a panel discussion and fundraising reception with lesbian and gay rights activists and legal professionals

PJ Samuels spoke about the negative role of some popular culture, including dancehall music, artists who promote “murder music” that advocates homophobic prejudice. Samuels also noted the omission of any reference to lesbians in the documentary but made clear that this invisibility did not mean Jamaican lesbian and bisexual women do not suffer.

Vernal Scott, a gay Christian, described his efforts to coordinate a meeting with the Jamaican High Commission in London and gave personal testimony about his experience of growing up with his conservative Christian mother, who was shown in the Unreported World documentary as a church attendee with a megaphone. Scott underlined the key role that conservative interpretation of religions has played to propagate homophobia.

James Stuart of Wilson Solicitors LLP described Britain’s asylum system and stressed the need to raise awareness and funds to help LGBTQ asylum seekers while audience members called on UK Black Pride to raise the issue of Jamaican LGBTQ rights with the Jamaica High Commission and to maintain engagement with Stonewall to lobby the British government for fairer asylum rights for LGBTQ people.

Closing the meeting, UK Black Pride’s Phyll Opoku-Gyimah confirmed that it would make a donation to Dwayne’s House, which gives care and support for homeless LGBT youth in Jamaica and committed to its lobbying by asking people to sign a petition calling on Portia Simpson-Miller, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, to provide safe accommodation for LGBTQ youth fleeing persecution in Jamaica.

Sign the petition here: http://chn.ge/1j5O46U

Stonewall Sponsorship Helps with the Delivery of Free UK Black Pride

UK Black Pride, Europe’s biggest community-led, not-for-profit support group for African, Asian and Caribbean lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people – announced yesterday that its official sponsors who have helped to make the ninth annual event a free festival for all.

Leading the way, for the fourth year running, is Stonewall, which has spent 25 years fighting for the rights of all lesbian, gay and bisexual people. From helping to win equalisation of the age of consent to repealing Section 28, from securing equal access to fertility treatment and guiding marriage equality legislation through Parliament to supporting LGB people internationally, Stonewall has a proud record of engaging and winning for full equality.

“Stonewall is immensely proud to continue to support UK Black Pride as main sponsor for the fourth year running. We know how important it is for people to be able to come together as a community and celebrate who they are. While we’ve achieved so much together over the last decades there is still so much to do. That is why events like UK Black Pride are vital to show that we are a visible and vibrant community who will continue to fight for true equality here, at home, and around the world.”

Ruth Hunt, Acting Chief Executive of Stonewall

Other sponsors include TUC said

“The TUC and its unions have long championed equality for LGBT people and played a big part in all the reforms won over recent decades. We’ve supported UK Black Pride from the beginning because we understand how crucial it is that the voices of all sections of a very diverse community are heard. The struggle for full LGBT equality is a long way from over, even in Britain, while it has hardly begun in many parts of the world. Together, we will continue to work to achieve it.”

Frances O’Grady

UK Black Pride’s Executive Director Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah, said:

“We’re thrilled that so many of our community organisations have rallied behind UK Black Pride. Stonewall, the trade unions, our legal sponsors and the Black / LGBT advocacy and support groups all provide vital support and service to our community. Their gift will ensure that we can put on a sequence of events in London and Manchester over the summer. Our focus remains on the needs of Black LGBT people, as well as celebrating our communities’ many achievements. UK Black Pride is an inclusive event for all; we invite everyone to love without borders!”

To attend the ninth annual UK Black Pride carnival stage festival, which will be an integral part of the Big Pride Picnic in the Park celebrations on Sunday 29 June in London Vauxhall’s Pleasure Gardens, you should just turn up on the day from 12 noon until 9pm.

 

UK Black Pride Announces Junes ‘Local and Global: Love Without Borders’ Pride Event

We can’t wait – UK Black Pride (Europe’s largest not-for-profit event for African, Arab, Asian and Caribbean-heritage lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people) will host a FREE entry, carnival-themed music festival and picnic on Sun 29 June in London.

UKBP, is famed for putting on Award-winning events, and this year plans to be fantastic. With a carnival-themed picnic in the park, UKBP will fuse its distinct blend of live music and politics, to deliver an entertaining, family-friendly, community festival of pride.

There will be a jazz and women’s stage, comedians, sports activities, education and welfare stalls, alongside world food and drink, there’s something for everyone at our multicultural pride event.

As well as the music festival in London Vauxhall’s Pleasure Gardens, UKBP has organised two other events as part of a summer of love. The Black LGBT community cultural arts festival will take place in central London on 16 August and the Black LGBT film festival will take place in central Manchester on 25 October.

UKBP has a strong identity as a grassroots movement. At their core they believe the most effective way to secure the fight for LGBT equality and inclusion, while opposing all forms of bigotry, is to put people and politics before profit. The theme for UK Black Pride 2014 is Local and Global: Love Without Borders. This is a signal of resistance against those trying to curb LGBT rights and equality from Brunei to India, from Nigeria to Jamaica, and in the USA Join us!

“We’re very excited to share UK Black Pride’s message of love without borders to our community of Black LGBT members whose families hail from all corners of the world. We will inject this international flavour into the heart of the LGBT community during the Pride in London week of celebrations. With our own brand of entertainment and education to promote love without borders we’ll make sure this year’s Big Pride Picnic in the Park is one the entire community can feel part of. UK Black Pride’s summer of love will include something for everyone so come out and join us!”

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, UK Black Pride’s founder and Executive Director.

UK Black Pride Demands Justice for Jamaican LGBTs

Yesterday, UK Black Pride (Europe’s largest not-for-profit organisation for African, Asian and Caribbean-heritage lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people), proudly announced a collaborative project with UK Lesbian Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG), to show solidarity with Jamaican LGBTs fighting for their dignity and justice in their country.

UK Black Pride and UKLGIG will host a screening of Channel 4’s documentary ‘Unreported World: Jamaica’s Underground Gays’ on Friday 13 June in London. The documentary sees Team GB Paralympian, Ade Adepitan, interviews Sachaberry and Krissy who movingly expose, in sometimes disturbingly graphic detail, the systemic extent of violence and homophobia against LGB and T people in Kingston, Jamaica, as they try to live their lives.

“UK Black Pride’s message of love without borders resonates with our community of Black LGBT people whose families hail from all corners of the world. We must put every social and political pressure that we can muster to demand dignity and respect for our Jamaican sisters and brothers so come out and join us!”

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, UK Black Pride’s founder and Executive Director

Whilst homosexuality is not illegal on the Caribbean island, Jamaica’s anti-sodomy laws prohibit acts of gross indecency (interpreted as any physical intimacy between men in public or private). Such acts are punishable by 10 years of hard labour in prison. This law and hardened social and cultural attitudes mean that violence against the LGBT community is rife.

UK Black Pride is inviting those who have been affected by the issues raised in the documentary, and those who want to learn more about the situation in Jamaica, and those who want to show solidarity with Jamaica’s LGBT community, to join them us at this film screening, which will be followed by a panel discussion and fundraising reception with lesbian and gay rights activists and legal professionals, including: Wayne Simmonds; PJ Samuels; Vernal Scott, Ana Gonzalez and Phyll Opoku-Gyimah.

You can register for your FREE ticket here. You can also show support by signing a petition that calls on Portia Simpson Miller, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, to provide safe and clean accommodation for LGBT youth who are escaping persecution in Jamaica. Sign here: http://chn.ge/1j5O46U


Watch the trailer for ‘Jamaica’s Underground Gays | Unreported World Shorts’