FEATURE:
Pride:
In the Name of…
________
IT is hard to believe it has been fifty years since…
PHOTO CREDIT: Katy Blackwood
homosexuality was decimalised. In fact, scrub that - quite an odd opening line, that one! What I mean is it is baffling homosexuality was ever illegal to begin with. I am glad we are in more civilised times and people are coming together to celebrate that anniversary. London has been lit up but a festival of colour and love: the two-day Pride festival has got underway in emphatic style! The event, in fact, started late last month but the major events have taken place today. Tomorrow is the final day of Pride: a chance for people to take to the capital’s streets and show their support. You can look at the official website and keep abreast of all the happenings. I have a musician friend who is involved with a charity single – all proceeds go to Pride in London. You can access it here - because, not only it is a fantastic song, but one that generates awareness and vital funds. If the past few months have taught us anything is how strong we are together. There have been events and tragedies that could have dragged us down and divided the nation. Instead, against the tide of fear and uncertainty, has been a relentless campaign of unity and positivity. We are a nation peerless when it comes to unifying and battling things/people who try and forge cracks. Right now, London is still buzzing from a day of music, marches and events. The people have come out in droves and, through performances, discussions and socialising, raised awareness of the L.G.B.T.Q. movement and marked a very special day. I know there is oppression and discrimination still – one wonders whether the L.G.B.T.Q. community will ever be truly accepted – but we have progressed from those dark days of the 1960s – when one could be arrested and imprisoned for expressing their human right: to love whoever they want.
Tomorrow will be an important and memorable day. The final chance, this year, to show your support and, quite literally, your colours. It is heartening seeing the thousands painted and daubed with variegation and vividness. The smiles have been on faces and a mystic cheer in the air. It is rare to see that happen in London – making it a shame things have to end – but it is just what the people need. Lest we forget those who fought for years to legalise homosexuality in this country. It was a long and hard fight but, fifty years down the line, we can remember them and know their struggle was not in vain. I know musicians who are homosexual and, even in 2017, there is that feeling they are not as accepted and comfortable as they’d like to me – a certain stigma still attached to having a lifestyle many feel it ‘strange’. Love of all types is beautiful so, God knows why, homosexuality was ever seen as sinful, immoral or wrong. I suppose those sort of narrow-minded people were a product of the times they lived in – generations who knew no different and were brought up to believe scurrilous ‘facts’. Those in the L.G.B.T.Q. community are among the warmest and most loving people you’ll ever meet: denying them a fundamental right, as I said, is criminal in itself. That is why this weekend – and today especially – have been so important. Most of the year, many do not see the realities of being homosexual. Many people are judged, sneered at and made to feel like second-class citizens – simply because their sexual orientation does not fit in with what is seen as ‘normal’. Even, in 2017, we are seeing some disturbing and prehistoric ideologies rearing their foul head. One hopes festivals like Pride make people think twice and makes real changes. We have come a long way in the past five decades but there is still work to be done. Like women in music; many musicians of the L.G.B.T.Q. community are afflicted with stigma and anxiety. It is not right but I am confident effective progressions are being felt. In honour of Pride – and marking the end of a rather special day – I have collated a playlist of, I think, the biggest ‘gay anthems’ and Pride-appropriate songs from across the ages.
Enjoy…