A Prideful week: Monday

It's FINALLY Pride week in Liverpool this week.  We had a scare a few weeks ago when our wonderful city centre Pride parade was cancelled due to lack of funding.  A big shock - we are a massive, diverse and inclusive city.  How could we cope with no Pride?

Stepping up to the plate are the absolutely incredible Sahir House in Liverpool, a local charity supporting the LGBTQ+ community and those living with HIV across the Liverpool City Region.  Out of NOTHING and in just a few short weeks they have organised a new community focused event, centering accessibility (our previous Pride route was not accessible) and the trans community in this year when we have been so much under attack for just existing.  So on Saturday we WILL march together at, and with, Pride.  Of course there will also be some sadness for those of us who knew and will be missing Folkie -  who would doubtless have been out supporting the new community focused events. You can find out more about the amazing work of Sahir House here: https://www.sahir.org.uk/

So this week I thought I'd try and capture my Pride week.  Today I am working from home, so you have in my Blip my laptop covered in bees (much like myself), trademark rainbow cap, Proud Weirdo Kate Abey sunglasses and a mug my wife bought me when I got promoted a couple of years ago. The significance of that is that I am one of very few (we think... there's no list... that we know of) non-binary professors in the UK, certainly within my field, which is quite small, and that I do wear with immense pride at all times with my heart on my sleeve, and my pronouns (they / them) on all my work related profiles, as part of my role.  I do a huge amount of equality, diversity and inclusivity work within my job and being able to be my authentic self in this role is a really important part of that.  So in fact Pride week is each and every week here.  As you can see by the many, many (and I assure you, this is just a taster) rainbows!

However the flip side of that is... for me, my gender identity is absolutely the least interesting thing about me. It doesn't define me, or what I achieve...but it does shape my experience of the world. The fact that the parts of society who read right-wing newspapers are currently obsessed with how I go to the toilet...well, that's just plain weird.  So one day I hope we'll move past Pride as a Protest into Pride for the sake of celebrating the fact that the diversity of humans is just brilliant.  But not this year.

Have a Prideful week y'all.