#Pride2019 v #Pride2020 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Growing up in Brighton, Pride was always in my life. I cheered the march as a kid, went to the park with pals as a teen. I felt so at home with the 90s drag queens, bears, leather daddies & dykes on bikes. A huge privilege few kids get to experience. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I always felt wary of #PrideInLondon. It felt like an excuse for young gay dudes to party, not a community of love & rebellion. Soho was a space to hook-up (& not for me). I gotta be honest, MY exclusion was what bothered me. It took time to learn how many people died & had their lives destroyed because of homo- trans- & bi-phobia. That people fight literal battles for freedom. Pride is different when you know about Stonewall, Marsha P Johnson, Silvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie, about AIDS, about laws created to oppress & violently police gender & sexuality. Knowing that, I saw the cops & capitalism floats with new eyes & I realised it’s not just me left out. Corporate Pride excludes so many people, especially Black, PoC, trans & GNC ppl in DIRECT contradiction with everything it’s supposed to stand for: resistance & liberation. Without Black Trans & Gender Non-Conforming people fighting for LGBTQ+ rights we wouldn't have any. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In 2018 London Pride was crashed by a tiny group who hate that trans rights have ALWAYS been part of this fight. I felt furious & helpless. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In 2019 I joined #BWithTheT alongside #LWithTheT and #GWithTheT chanting BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER. It was the first time I'd seen Pride with protest in it, with a message I wanted to fill the headlines. I felt a bit proud. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In 2020 I sat home, signed petitions & emails, listened to Black Trans people & made donations instead of buying drinks. I wished I could walk to Central & add my voice even louder than last year as I knew so many friends were doing. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I felt furious & helpless again, but ALSO proud, seeing a protest in place of a parade. Plus, I'm hopeful, cos after 2020 we CAN’T go back to corporate cop pride. Pride HAS to mean liberation for ALL. I’ll fight for nothing less. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #BlackTransLivesMatter #AllBlackLivesMatter