Credit where credit is due and we can all agree that in the last decade prides across the UK have become a lot more diverse and inclusive, but as one drag queen pointed out, you’ll probably not see much representation when it comes to disability.
Sassi Afrika is a drag queen living with cerebral palsy, and she’s determined not to let it define her, but as a Tweet she wrote recently pointed out, you’re probably unlikely to find her (or other performers who are disabled) performing her act at any other pride aside from Warwickshire Pride, because as she says, “LGBT+ people with disabilities get overlooked”.
Yesterday Sassi took to Twitter to write,
“Coming to a Pride near you… Oh hang on, maybe not because LGBT+ people with disabilities get overlooked in favour of crowd pleasers and acts that aren’t even LGBT+. I’ll keep talking about this. Because this is life.”
Daniel Browne, the chair of Warwickshire Pride, a pride which has championed local acts and at least 75% LGBT+ representation on its stage wrote,
“Sassi deserves more respect. And some Prides need to be more representative of the whole LGBT+ community. Less cishet (cis-gendered and hetrosexual) acts. More LGBT+ artists and diversity within that. And stop charging an entry fee.
“An inclusive Pride should be a free Pride.”
Sassi later added,
“Gurrl I know I’ve been having a moan. But sometimes I gotta keep it real and say it how it is. We should all be more like that. Never put up with shit. Be you and speak the truth. Now, aren’t I looking gorgeous today.”
Go Sassi. Bravo for speaking out