While we shed tears of joy, jubilation and frustration over the Olympics, let’s save some emotion for the fantastic courage and indefatigability of those who organised Pride in Uganda. Despite new draconian laws and a mid-pride police raid, the event went ahead and people came with their children to be entertained by the songs and displays. To read the full article and see the moving Flicker images go here.
Meanwhile, Pride was held for the first time in Vietnam and in Nepal. Co-Chair of Schools OUT and LGBT History Month Tony Fenwick said: “Thanks to global initiatives like International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO), governments are getting the message that same sex desire and gender variance is, and was everywhere. It’s not a question of lifestyle choice. We’ve been around in all times and all places. Why the hell would people risk ostracisation, rejection by friends and family, arrest, imprisonment and even death to establish an artifice or a ‘lifestyle choice’?
“What is more disturbing again is the way St Petersburg in particular and now Russia in general seem to have ‘cashed in’ on popular prejudice by encouraging their populations to hate LGBT people with laws that emasculate us and take us back into the Dark Ages. They need to look ahead rather than evoking a grim past;”
On Saturday August the 11th Milton Keynes will celebrate its first Pride in Campbell Park. See you there.