It goes without saying that observing the historical significance of the fight for equality, showing respect for the full spectrum of loving adult relationships and spotlighting the rights yet to be won for the LGBTQIA+ community shouldn't be confined to just one calendar month. But, for years, the annual celebration of Pride globally has given due attention to what it truly means to love out loud.
And for June 2022 - Pride's 50th anniversary in the UK - considering devastating political decisions like the government's U-turn on banning ‘conversion therapy’, and the USA's repeal of Roe V. Wade which could have heavy consequences for reproductive rights of LGBTQIA+ people, this year's Pride has been one of reflection and serious discussion, as much as it has been of triumph and joy.
As fashion and style often goes hand-in-hand with Pride - the freedom to express yourself as creatively and confidently as you wish to - this month we asked, designer and model Josephine Jones, change-maker and artist Kai-Isaiah Jamal and London- based menswear designer Saul Nash to share their thoughts on what Pride means to them this year.
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Performance poet, trans-visibility campaigner and model
'Personally, this Pride has been about reevaluating the framework of queerness in different spaces,' explains model and campaigner Kai-Isaiah Jamal. 'By now, it’s hard not to miss that strange turning point where suddenly every window has rainbows and every store you walk into has a flag, which is why this year it’s been so nice to see people approach Pride in slightly different way.'
Jamal goes on to say that Pride has evolved, returning to a place of real activism, after years of it feeling like a very personal celebration. The model took part in fashion brand COS' ‘Love For All’ campaign and also in Black Pride, which focusses more specifically on reversing the marginalisation of Black LGBTQIA+ individuals. 'For the [COS] shoot we were given the blank canvas of a T-shirt. I chose to cover mine with a poem called 'And that's okay,’ which was a response to my own reflection and mind shift towards Pride on a global level. What does [Pride] look like outside of the West? How do we support queer people who can't hold hands with their partners? Children who are still working out how to tell their parents about their identity? Sex workers and trans people?'
The model also explains that alongside of amplifying intersectional voices and those of the more acutely marginalised, there is still true joy in celebrating Pride's rich history. 'Accessing bit of Queer history is so important to me, be it a book or a documentary highlighting trans elders. It’s why I love UK Black Pride,' says Jamal. 'It’s a space where you’ll see 60 year olds standing right alongside 16 year olds. Intergenerational queer spaces are so important because seeing people in the flesh, not just immortalised in history, is a reminder that there is a future for us – one that is filled with joy and normality – it’s the process of unlearning the idea that every element of my existence has to be revolutionary.
For Jamal, activists like Lady Phyll, Dominique Jackson and James Baldwin form a foundation of affirmation that allows for their work in shifting the dial towards equality. 'Being at Black pride or watching those that have come before me speak is grounding and serves as reminder that there is a new generation of queer kids coming up that can be surrounded by unapologetically, strong voices.'
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Model, artist and fashion designer
For designer and artist Josephine Jones, Pride 2022 has centred on community and connection. 'Coming up to this 50th anniversary of UK pride, I feel more connected than ever to my trans sisters on a global scale.' Pride celebrations, says the designer, 'Will forever be a protest and not a party. That is how it began with trans women of colour, the drag queens and the people back in Greenwich Village in 1969, they gave us the privilege of enjoying the celebration, so during this momentous occasion – the big 50 - and in light of the some of the pushes to segregate trans people from the movement by groups like the LGB alliance and from the government – I feel like we need to say ‘lest we forget darling’. It was trans women of colour that began this.'
In amongst the protest, says Jones 'I am simultaneously so hopeful, so grateful in some small way, to be part of the London trans tapestry and personally in a place where I can reflect and uphold women that came before me - like Candy Darling and Marsha P Johnson – the women that gave me hope in my early transition.' As part of this this contemplation, Jones explains 'I was always aware – even when suffering from the most horrific forms of abuse – that I was standing on the shoulders of giants, so now I choose, in this month and beyond, to spotlight the queens that were doing it in the 60s in the 70s.'
When considering how queerness fits within the framework of fashion, the 25-year-old says 'I always say style is substantive. A coat can be conceptual, like a dress can be divine, and honestly, for me, before I even started hormone therapy, I would be wearing amazing Vivienne Westwood with cuts that would subvert the lines of the body – it was something that allowed me to find inner harmony with a body that I did not find very harmonious. Clothes helped me to feel safe in public spaces. I'm very proud to be part of the first generation of trans models and designers that didn’t hide their gender identity.'
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Fashion designer, choreographer and winner of Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design
The true joy of Pride month, according to award-winning London-based menswear designer Saul Nash, can be felt though 'the eclectic expression of identities' across the LGBTQIA+ community. He credits this unbridled joy that erupts within queer spaces in June, as the bedrock of Pride, helping to emphasise for the LGBTQIA+ community that, 'Finding happiness and being queer comes from embracing who you are and understanding that it is ok to express yourself however you want to.'
For 2022, Nash says, 'Whilst celebrating pride this month, I have definitely also been thinking a lot about the parts of Pride history and future that are often over looked. The artist explains that this year, 'I have been particularly reflecting on all of the POC trans women who fought for our rights during the Stonewall riots and also those who risk their lives every day in their countries just for being themselves – it makes me question just how things have changed over the years and also what we use as a marker for progress.'
Although, says Nash, 'There is no doubt that life for queer people is better and so many points of progression have happened, there is still a long way to go, particularly in countries where people are persecuted for expressing themselves.' When looking towards the future and aspiring to create true change, the designer says, 'I think that when it becomes completely normal for people to express themselves however they want to without fear – that for me will be the sign of change and it will undoubtably give way to more eclectic expressions of joy.'
This month, the menswear designer says Pride celebrations have also allowed for a new wave of personal expression within his own journey. 'It took a long time to be proud and own who I was.' It's a sentiment that the newest superstar of sportswear - who also has also worked as a choreographer and movement director - has documented heavily in his work. In Nash’s poignant debut collection, described as ‘one of self-acceptance’, the designer skilfully plays with elements that relate to Nash’s own masculinity, softness and sexual identity.
However one has observed this month, one thing is clear: the fight isn't over. With shocking government U-turns on issues so critically important to LGBTQIA+ people, 2022 has been a wake up call for complacency and complicity. And Pride 2022 has been a rally cry to get back out there, to the front line of human rights for marginalised communities.
