Celebrating Pride with Bridget Newham! 🏳️‍🌈

 

This week we spoke to Bridget, one of our fantastic Outreach Team Leaders, about what Pride means to them and how they supported the identity of the young individuals they worked with!

 

"For me, Pride month highlights the acceptance of society to accept the life choices of the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate with them. It recognises the massive steps that have been made and reminds us of the struggles faced in years gone by. It promotes inclusion and acceptance of the diverse society we are all a part of.

Due to the laws in place, we are fortunate in the UK to be protected from discrimination compared to other parts of the world.

I feel proud of my sexuality and have been lucky never to have felt discrimination or suffered the effects of it.

Whilst working in my previous role as a UASC Support Worker I was able to promote acceptance and respect for the LGBTQ+ community. This was especially relevant to those young people who had arrived in the UK from other parts of the world where there is open discrimination and sometimes hatred for non-heterosexuals. All the young people I have supported have shown respect towards me and have openly stated they feel safe to “be allowed to be who I am”.

As well as celebrating acceptance and inclusion, I feel Pride month allows us all to remember those who were unable to express their sexuality in years gone by and suffered greatly as a result. Attending the candlelight vigil in Manchester a few years ago was a stark reminder for me of the people who were ostracised as a result of AIDs and how alone they may well have felt.

I continue to hope that our society of inclusion, respect and acceptance of all will remain and grow stronger moving forward."

 

What does Pride mean to you? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments of our social media pages!