The colourful celebrations of London Pride were set to be held over the weekend, but unfortunately after careful consideration had to be cancelled due to the current Coronavirus pandemic. The festival which would usually feature performances from the LGBT+ community, including theatre shows, conferences, exhibitions and even events held at museums, encouraged people to celebrate from their own homes this year.
The most popular Pride parade was set to take place on the 27th June 2020 and would have no doubt seen some familiar faces in the crowds. Sam Smith is known for their mesmerising voice on stage, but more recently people recognise the singer as being a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community. In March 2019, Smith openly came out as identifying as non-binary, meaning the artist sees themselves as neither male nor female.
Over the weekend, the singer took to Instagram to share their thoughts on Pride which also coincided with the Black Lives Matter movement.
The singer wishes their family and friends a happy Pride month and urges people to celebrate and fight for the rights of queer people of colour.
Other British artists also took to social media to celebrate Pride. Anne-Marie shared a quote from Morgan Freeman, which states ‘I hate the word homophobia. It’s not a phobia. You’re not scared. You’re an asshole.’
HAPPY PRIDE #HappyPride BE PROUD AND NEVER APOLOGISE. pic.twitter.com/WLLwqflBKb — ANNE-MARIE (@AnneMarie) June 28, 2020
The 29-year-old from Essex has always been open about her sexuality and says that she has never felt the need to tell people that she is bisexual. In an interview with The Line of Best Fit, she says “I’ve never ever just been attracted to men. I’ve never just been attracted to women. I just feel like I’m attracted to who I like. I honestly feel like everyone is like that.”
Pop princess, Rita Ora, also took to social media to spread love and awareness for the community. She created a section dedicated to BLM and LGBTQ rights to her Instagram highlights which allows fans to view at any point. Within this, Ora has shared a link to LGBTQ Freedom Fund which helps pay towards bail for people who have been wrongfully accused of a crime due to their sexuality. The site offers many ways for people to donate and support the cause.
It is safe to say that despite of the cancelled celebrations in London, artists have managed to use their social media platforms to spread positivity and also share awareness of any issues that the LGBTQ community are still facing today.
