Hello all and thank you so much for your continued support for THEGAYUK. Last month we had a record month with as our reach topped over 150,000 unique readers.
This month we’re dedicating our pages to Pride. Yes love it or loathe it, Pride season is upon us and this year THEGAYUK is happily media sponsoring a number of Prides around the UK – and we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible – if you see us in our sexy T-Shirts come and say hey!
Pride, I believe, is an incredibly important event for the gay community, from it’s humble beginnings on the July 1st 1972 in London, with just 700 people marching the streets to the mass lavish parties we’ve come to know and love in many of our cities across the UK – But what’s truly wonderful to witness is the growing number of new Prides and smaller Prides that are really starting to blossom.
My first Pride experience was a little inauspicious shall we say – years before I was out, I happened upon Pride London quite by mistake – as I sat on the Tube from my home town in the far reaches of North London the Tube carriage began to fill with a number of colourful characters – odd I thought, but wasn’t too alarmed. It was only when masses of men boarded the train, dressed in all kinds of costumes, holding hands and yes, even kissing, I began to think I was no longer Kansa, or indeed Southgate… Dorothy.
Being young and still at that ‘I’m not gay’ stage, I was genuinely shocked and intrigued, my twinset and pearls were being clutched, but I did want to know more, perhaps that man crush I had on a certain Neighbours character was something after all.
Years on I relish Pride season – putting the clubbing and parties aside, Pride is an important tool for the LGBT community. It breaks boundaries, it allows our voices to be heard and for us to continue our journey to full societal equality.
We must never forget who we are and how far we, as a community have come, in a relatively short time.
To quote the theme from Oxford Pride this year, we’re ‘Not There Yet’ but we are getting closer everyday.
We’re also launching our brand new Sexual Health campaign along with the Freedoms Shop, we’ve dubbed it the No Excuse Project.
We’re aiming to deliver free condoms to anyone who doesn’t have access to condoms, to those who are too shy or embarrassed or aren’t able for whatever reason to get hold of condoms.
With the rise of sexual infections and record new HIV infections amongst men who have sex with men, we’re passionate in making sure there is No Excuse not to have a condom in your house or pocket.
If you’d like to know more or even help us fund the project visit www.noexcuse.thegayuk.com – Every £1 donated could potentially save 8 people from contracting a sexually transmitted disease in the UK.
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.
Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you'd like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.