Diversity Digest

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King's College London

Tag: Pride Month

Pride 2023 Reflections

July 19, 2023 /

It’s been a pretty fabulous summer here at King’s, with members of our university community celebrating all things LGBTQ+ for Pride Month throughout June & July. Jake Orros an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Project Officer here at King’s shares some of the highlights of one very busy pride month for King’s.

In a snapshot Proudly King’s once again marched in the Pride in London parade and joined fellow London universities at the London Trans+ Pride march. Our faculties got involved with the celebrations, with the Faculty of Natural Mathematical & Engineering Sciences hosting an ‘LGBTQ+ in STEM’ event and Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Science staff and students came together for a pride inspired picnic. Members of the EDI team volunteered behind the scenes at Pride in London, brushing shoulders with LGBTQ+ icons. And together with colleagues in student services and corporate communications, the EDI team brought you a ‘what pride means to me’ blog series.

Volunteering at Pride in London

Pride events across the world including London’s are only possible because of the amazing people who give up their time and volunteer to help run these events. Over 1000 volunteers supported Pride in London this year, including our very own Lorraine Kelly, Director of Organizational Development & Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, and myself.  This year’s Pride in London theme was ‘Never March Alone: Championing Trans Allyship’.

Lorraine Kelly (right) with Trafalgar Square volunteers

Lorraine was part of the brilliant stages team, working behind the scenes to pull off a brilliant show on the Trafalgar Square stage. Lorraine brushed shoulders with stars including Beverly Knight, Adam Lambert, Rita Ora who all preformed on what is affectionately known behind the scenes as T Square.

In Lorraine’s own words – “I had the great pleasure of volunteering at pride at Trafalgar Square it was an amazing experience, the vibe was positive and inclusive – if you haven’t done it before I would def recommend that you get involved”.

Lorraine (second from right) volunteering at the Trafalgar Square stage before opening to the public.

I was also there volunteering on the day, I had the brilliant job of being an Event Manager and being part of the core team planning and delivering the Pride Family & Youth Area at St Giles-in-the-Fields Church. We delivered the space in partnership with Lego and The Scouts who ran pride themed activities for young people and their families. We had our biggest attendance to the space ever with approximately 7,000 visitors throughout the day which was phenomenal and it was brilliant to see members of the King’s community drop in with their families too! I am so proud of what we achieved on the day, the 6 months of planning paid off and was so worth it – I loved seeing the beaming smiles of the young people and their families as they enjoyed the LGBTQ+ inspired activities from The Scouts & Lego and performances from LGBTQ+ artists on our stage.

Jake in a purple pride manager tshirt stood back to back with another pride volunteer

Jake (right) volunteering in the Pride Family & Youth Area

I couldn’t agree with Lorraine more, volunteering at pride was a brilliant experience and it is such a great way to meet new people, to feel a part of something special and to have a real positive impact. So why not join the team and volunteer at a pride event next year!

What Pride Means to Me? Blog Series

Throughout pride month we shared what pride means to members of our King’s Community. Emily Coutts interviewed 5 brilliant staff and students from across King’s about why pride month is important to them. Emily spoke to: Taj – a Global Health & Social Medicine student, Jo – who Head of Mental Health & Counselling Outreach & Training, Rosanna – a Student Content Manager and James & Andrew – both Faculty Wellbeing Advisors.

We asked Emily to sum up her experience of working on this inspiring pride month project – “It was a pleasure to interview these fantastic people about what Pride means to them. Although their experiences and identities vary hugely, I was struck that they’re all motivated by a desire to make life better for other LGBTQ+ people, and to support those experiencing oppression. It’s great to know that I’m surrounded by such thoughtful and passionate colleagues at King’s.”

You can find the blogs on our Diversity Digest site here.

Proudly King’s

Kirsty McLaren, Communications & Community Co-Chair of Proudly King’s reflects on how our LGBTQ+ staff network marked pride month…

This year marked a transformative moment for Pride at King’s College London.

Amidst the standard festivities associated with Pride in London, King’s took steps to address some pressing challenges faced by queer students in higher education. For the first time ever, Proudly King’s marched shoulder to shoulder with Pride Power, a group of students on our flagship widening participation programme, K+.

Without support, reaching university is a challenge for anyone from a widening participation background. Thriving while you’re there is even harder. Some students face further barriers because of immutable parts of their identity. LGBTQ+ students experience more bullying, poorer mental health, and higher rates of estrangement. They are less likely to feel they belong at university. This leads to many LGBTQ+ students dropping out of university and those who stick it out until graduation often leave with a lower degree classification.  The Widening Participation team created Pride Power to address these issues.

A group from Pride Power holding placards at Pride in London march

Pride Power at Pride in London

What makes Pride Power stand out is its tangible efforts in fostering an environment where these students find belonging. Its essence lies in its relentless efforts to create an environment of acceptance and love. Many of its members, for instance, haven’t come out at home. Yet, with Pride Power by their side, they confidently joined us at Pride in London. Thanks to generous donations from our Departments and Faculties, they had group T-Shirts and could express themselves with their own banners. Making the banners was a beautiful way for them to increase their bond, sharing their experiences of being queer in school and at home. One student described it as “the best experience of [their] entire life.”

As for Proudly King’s, we kicked off the Pride season with a pre-pride party hosted on campus. It was an authentic expression of our community, with speeches and craft tables to write messages of hope for the future generations. These were sent to the Pride Power students ahead of their march. The event marked our return to Pride in London in the spirit of pride as a protest: less about grand gestures and more about genuine connection, setting the stage for the subsequent march.

Collage of images at Proudly's pre pride party,

Proudly Pre-Pride Party

Our Pride Planning Committee’s relentless efforts and the generous donations culminated in a remarkable parade float on the morning of Pride in London. Both Proudly King’s and Pride Power’s branding was on full display, with a DJ truck that played Cher’s hits repeatedly, much to the crowd’s delight. Our Senior Sponsor the Rev’d Dr Ellen Clark-King showcased her unwavering allyship by joining us on the truck right after surgery. Also, among us was the KCLSU LGBTQ+ Network President, Taj Donville-Outerbridge, a double recipient at the 2023 Queer Student Awards.

“Joining [the march] and hearing from [the committee] and feeling like the weight of the world was taken off my shoulders – well that was SOMETHING” – Suz from the School of Politics and Economics on her first ever Pride parade.

King's staff wearing navy blue Proudly King's branded tshirts posing for a group photo

Proudly at the Pride in London Parade

7 days later, Proudly King’s marched once again in London Trans+ Pride, an event that is a response to the injustices that trans, intersex, gender nonconforming, and non-binary people face daily, all over the world. Though June is long-gone, our Pride season at King’s will stretch all the way through to September when we’ll be attending London Bi+ Pride. And in August we’ll be teaming up with the KCL Race Equality Network to attend UK Black Pride, the world’s largest celebration for African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American and Caribbean-heritage LGBTQ+ people.

We’re looking forward to the next academic year when we can expand efforts to make King’s a better place for LGBTQ+ people. Our Proudly King’s committee is expanding, and our Pride Power group will grow even more. To see more pictures from Pride in London and Trans Pride, sign up to our mailing list, or even apply to become a committee member just visit www.proudlykings.com

Love, Always.

Kirsty on behalf of Proudly King

Join the Proudly King's Committee Poster featuring a montage of photos

Join the Proudly King’s Committee

Pride Picnic

Our colleagues in the dentistry faculty hosted a pride picnic with over 50 staff and students attending. There were some incredibly tasty pride themed cakes, including a huge rainbow inspired sponge cake created by a talented member of FoDOCS staff.

A large wedge of pride themes layer cake held up against a window with views of South London in the background.

Pride themed layer cake

The decorate your own gingerbread person activity base was buzzing with activity, with people queuing to decorate their own edible LGBTQ+ gingerbread icons. The event served as an important opportunity to further develop a sense of meaningful community within the faculty and enabled all those present to take time out from busy work and study schedules to learn more about LGBTQ+ inclusion and meet other members of the community & allies.

Gingerbread people people decorated with icing and little sugar coated stars.

Gingerbread Icons

King’s Libraries – Must Watch List

Throughout the month staff from across King’s Libraries & Collections team shared their suggestions of must watch LGBTQ+ inspired content.

You can explore all of their suggestions on the King’s Libraries Twitter & Instagram pages, where you will find an eclectic mix of documentaries, short films and thought provoking features, all curated to expand your knowledge of queer history and theory.

All the suggested content is available to watch for staff and students via the Library’s Kanopy subscription here.

My experience at London Trans Pride

Alex an undergraduate Management and Modern Languages student and a summer intern with the Student Content Management team attended London Trans Pride.

You can read all about Alex’s experience of attending the event here.

Want to Learn more about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London?

What Pride Means to Me: Taj

June 30, 2023 /

This Pride Month, we are talking to LGBTQ+ members of the King’s College London community to find out what Pride means to them. If you would like to share what Pride means to you, please email the team at diversity@kcl.ac.uk. 

Taj Donville-Outerbridge is studying for a BSc in Global Health & Social Medicine. He’s President of KCLSU’s LGBT+ Society, and recently won Role Model of the Year and Queer of the Year at the 2023 UK Queer Student awards. Taj is pansexual.

Taj at the Queer Student Awards holding two trophies featuring a big Q on each. Taj is wearing a plum velvet 2 piece outfit, a medal around his neck and stylish sunglasses.

Taj at the Queer Student Awards

Moving beyond stereotypes

I grew up in Bermuda. While being gay is technically legal there, the Caribbean can be a difficult and dangerous environment for LGBTQ+ people.

I’ve always been out and accepted by my family but I experienced pressure from within the LGBTQ+ community to conform. As a gay, Black man, you’re expected to either be straight-acting and closeted, or very feminine and creative.

I love science and am an academic at heart: I don’t fit neatly into either stereotype. It took time to accept that I could embrace all sides of myself.

Same problems, different island

Homophobia intersects with many different types of prejudice, and that’s as true in the UK as it is in the Caribbean. Media figures are often caricatures of gay Black men – RuPaul would be a good example – while Black role models in professional fields are very heteronormative.

Back home, everyone highlighted my gayness, whereas now I’m in the UK they tend to see my race. I’m often the only Black person in LGBTQ+ spaces. Everywhere I go, there’s a barrier to truly belonging.

That’s why I created ‘Tea Time with Taj’ through KCLSU. The intersectional needs of queer people of colour are often overlooked in race or sexuality-based societies, so we meet to chat, drink tea and build a sense of community.

What Pride means to me

Queer joy is wonderful but ultimately Pride is a protest. It’s important we don’t let it slide into a performative corporate gesture.

The LGBTQ+ community needs to stop fighting over small things. We need to become aware of other groups’ needs and global issues. An ex-boyfriend of mine was murdered in Grenada earlier this year, victim of a homophobic hate crime. Injustice like that should remind us how much work still needs to be done.

At King’s, I want to set an example for all students who feel marginalised, or caught in the intersections between marginalised groups. University can be difficult if you’re trans, and perhaps even more difficult if you’re Black, trans and disabled.

Pride is our opportunity to advocate for others.

Get involved & make a difference this Pride Month
  • Join our LGBTQ+ staff network Proudly King’s or attend one of their events here.
  • Check out our Pride student news article which is full of useful links here.
  • Pride Month Step-Out challenge! Join Proudly King’s & King’s Sport in a 28, 06,69 step challenge in June and July to commemorate LGBTQ+ Pride Month and summer activities whilst keeping active. Sign up on the King’s Move app from 12th June here!
Want to Learn more about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London?

What Pride Means to Me: Jo

June 29, 2023 /

This Pride Month, we are talking to LGBTQ+ members of the King’s College London community to find out what Pride means to them. If you would like to share what Pride means to you, please email the team at diversity@kcl.ac.uk. 

Jo Levy is Head of Mental Health & Counselling Outreach & Training at King’s. Jo is genderqueer and uses they/them pronouns. They live in London with their partner, Bev, and are supported at Pride by Flossie, their sister’s Cockapoo.  

Jo standing with Bev.

A day of joy and safety 

The significance of Pride has shifted over time. I’m showing my age here, but 30 years ago we partied against a backdrop of overt homophobia. I lost friends to HIV and hate crime was common. Section 28, the UK law which banned the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ in schools or in public institutions, was still in place. It was only revoked in 2003. 

At Pride back then, my friends and I would get together and celebrate our independence and freedom. We were as present and exuberant as possible. It was our way of sharing that awareness with the world: it’s not a crime to be yourself. 

 

Holding others’ rights in mind 

Pride in 2023 is partly about celebrating the freedoms we’ve won. Compared with 30 years ago, it’s easier to be out and open at work, with your family and in the wider community. 

But we’re also fighting a backlash. Globally, there are many countries where LGBTQ+ people are imprisoned or killed simply for being themselves. There is also a lot of dangerous rhetoric closer to home, perhaps particularly around trans rights. 

Pride is a great opportunity to look beyond our own small group. LGBTQ+ people shouldn’t hide in silos. We should be caring about one another and fighting for our rights as a collective. 

Flossie the dog is blond and fluffy, wearing a rainbow garland around its neck with a red bowtie. The dog is stood on a blue, green and yellow night sky cloth covered in stars.

Improving accessibility for LGBTQ+ students 

I’ve worked for King’s Counselling & Mental Health Service for nine years. We’ve always offered support to any student who’s struggling, but I think we’ve improved the way we promote our services to LGBTQ+ students in recent times. 

KCLSU has led the way in promoting inclusivity. Simple measures such as sharing pronouns on e-signatures and at the start of meetings help create a culture of allyship.  

Statistically, LGBTQ+ young people experience worse mental health than their peers, so we’re taking steps to cater for their needs. We partnered with Togetherall, the online counselling provider, to help support those who aren’t comfortable meeting face-to-face. We’ve also just launched Queer Identities, a therapeutic group for queer and questioning students. 

There’s always more that can be done. My hope is that by being out and open within the counselling service, I can help make it a more inclusive space for others. 

Get involved & make a difference this Pride Month
  • Join our LGBTQ+ staff network Proudly King’s or attend one of their events here.
  • Check out our Pride student news article which is full of useful links here.
  • Pride Month Step-Out challenge! Join Proudly King’s & King’s Sport in a 28, 06,69 step challenge in June and July to commemorate LGBTQ+ Pride Month and summer activities whilst keeping active. Sign up on the King’s Move app from 12th June here!
Want to Learn more about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London?

What Pride Means to Me: Rosanna

June 28, 2023 /

This Pride Month, we are talking to LGBTQ+ members of the King’s College London community to find out what Pride means to them. If you would like to share what Pride means to you, please email the team at diversity@kcl.ac.uk. 

Rosanna McNamara is a Student Content Manager within the Student Knowledge & Information Team. She has an MA (Distinction) from King’s in Christianity and the Arts, and is an active member of Proudly King’s, the staff LGBTQ+ network. You can check out her trans liberation embroidery on Etsy.

Rosanna spoke to us about asexuality.

A portrait of Rosanna McNamara. She is stood up wearing a black t-shirt. in the middle of the t-shirt is an illustrated mouth, neon blue lips, with trans rights written on the teeth.

Rosanna McNamara, a Student Content Manager within the Student Knowledge & Information Team.

I don’t know exactly what I am

Like many people, I did a lot of introspection during lockdown. I have a male partner, but I’ve never recognised myself in the ways that other straight people talk about relationships and desire. I did a lot of research, asked a lot of questions, and explored the possibility that I’m asexual.

Straight sexual attraction (known as allosexuality) is often conflated with ‘human nature’, especially in the media on shows like Love Island. For those of us who don’t experience the world that way, that framing feels very exclusionary.

In the current cultural climate, women can’t win: we’re shamed if we’re sexual and if we’re not.

A group of 4 people stood in a group against a sparkling wall under dim lighting. Rosanna is stood at the front of the group wearing a long blue floor length gown.

Asexuality is about attraction, not behaviour

My research has taught me that there are many different types of asexuality, which can be shorted to ‘ace’. The ace community encompasses people who don’t experience romantic attraction (aromantic) and those who don’t experience sexual attraction (asexual).

Many of us also exist in the grey area between feeling sexual and asexual, for example by identifying as demi-sexual, which is the experience of needing to know someone very well before experiencing sexual attraction to them.

These labels are fluid and people change them a lot. When I first started exploring asexuality I found labels liberating, but now I can find them restrictive: even within the ace community, there can be a tendency to force people into boxes.

I feel happiest describing myself as queer. For the past two years I’ve taken vogue dance classes at the Rainbow Nation Dance Academy, which is a queer-run company. I love it, and it feels like home.

A piece of purple fabric, covered in embroidery. There is a yellow shield, with 'being ACE is ACE' stitched into the middle, with a yellow golden star either side.

Being ACE is ACE embroidery

What does Pride mean to you?

Pride is a riot and a fight. Yes, it’s fun too, but ultimately it’s about people coming together to combat oppressive forces within our society.

I’m acutely aware of the ways I’m privileged: I’m white, cis and in a romantic relationship with a man. This year, I want to use my voice to fight for more marginalised members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I’m volunteering at London Trans+ Pride and working for better King’s representation at UK Black Pride through Proudly King’s.

Pride is about celebrating and protecting the great plurality of human experience. We should all be equal in our differences.

Learn more about asexuality:

My Etsy shop, where I also make queer art with donations to charity: RosannaMcNamara – Etsy UK

Get involved & make a difference this Pride Month
  • Join our LGBTQ+ staff network Proudly King’s or attend one of their events here.
  • Check out our Pride student news article which is full of useful links here.
  • Pride Month Step-Out challenge! Join Proudly King’s & King’s Sport in a 28, 06,69 step challenge in June and July to commemorate LGBTQ+ Pride Month and summer activities whilst keeping active. Sign up on the King’s Move app from 12th June here!

 

Want to Learn more about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London?

What Pride Means to Me: James

June 19, 2023 /

This Pride Month, we are talking to LGBTQ+ members of the King’s College London community to find out what Pride means to them. If you would like to share what Pride means to you, please email the team at diversity@kcl.ac.uk. 

James Falcon-Martini Hallett is a Faculty Wellbeing Advisor at King’s, and the team’s lead on LGBTQ+ student support. He’s currently studying for an MSc in Therapeutic Counselling. James is originally from the North-West of England and now lives in London with his husband, Mau.

 

James Hallett

I’ve always been a bit different

Who I am is always in flux. I tend to tell straight people I’m gay, and LGBTQ+ people that I’m queer: different words feel appropriate at different times.

I grew up in Lancashire, and I’m from a working-class, single-parent family. I came out early, when I was around 12 years old, but even before there was a sense that I was different: I’d be described as ‘soft’ or ‘sensitive’.

My close family were always supportive of me, particularly my mum, although a lot of my wider family cut off contact when I came out because of their religious beliefs.

I felt a lot of guilt and shame throughout my teenage years but finding my community really helped me to come to terms with who I am and embrace my identity.

 

Looking for a place to be me

I’ve lived in London for the past 10 years now and what drew me here is what keeps me here: I love how cosmopolitan it is!

Much like the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, we’re all these different people, with different experiences, sort of held together in the same space. There’s so much opportunity to connect and learn from other people.

I think it’s so important for LGBTQ+ folks to create a sense of community, because sadly we often grow up feeling quite alone, and it can be powerful to be together with others who share our experience.

 

What Pride means to me

To me, Pride is a celebration of possibility and potential; of all the various intersecting identities that create our community; of hoping for a future in which we’re free to just be ourselves.

Trans members of our community are particularly suffering at the hands of incredibly hateful and dangerous rhetoric at the moment, and I hope this Pride can be a protest, and an affirmation that our community won’t be divided.

In my role as a Faculty Wellbeing Advisor, I want all students to be able to access support when they’re struggling, but I’m aware there are sometimes additional barriers that can prevent LGBTQ+ students seeking help. I’ve experienced this first-hand and feel passionately about breaking these down in the work I do.

 

Get involved & make a difference this Pride Month
  • Join our LGBTQ+ staff network Proudly King’s or attend one of their events here.
  • Check out our Pride student news article which is full of useful links here.
  • Pride Month Step-Out challenge! Join Proudly King’s & King’s Sport in a 28, 06,69 step challenge in June and July to commemorate LGBTQ+ Pride Month and summer activities whilst keeping active. Sign up on the King’s Move app from 12th June here!

 

Want to Learn more about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London?

What Pride Means to Me: Andrew

June 14, 2023 /

This Pride Month, we are talking to LGBTQ+ members of the King’s College London community to find out what Pride means to them. If you would like to share what Pride means to you, please email the team at diversity@kcl.ac.uk. 

In our first edition of ‘What Pride Means to Me’ we speak to Andrew Hall. He is a qualified social worker who studied Psychology at the University of Birmingham. He’s a queer, cisgender man who is currently working as a Faculty Wellbeing Advisor in King’s Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine.

 

A portrait of Andrew Hall. He is wearing a tshirt with black and white stripes and has brown hair.

Andrew Hall

Being queer means having space to explore

I grew up in rural Wiltshire, which isn’t a very diverse place. It wasn’t until I was an undergraduate in Birmingham that I began to accept my sexuality wasn’t fixed or clear-cut. I was attracted to both men and women.

For a while, I identified as bisexual, but that word never felt like it expressed who I am. I experienced biphobia at university, from some straight people but also from some members of the LGBTQ+ community. At that time (2014), there seemed to be rigid expectations of how a ‘straight’ or ‘gay’ man should act, and I didn’t resonate with either stereotype.

That’s why I love the term queer. It allows me to be curious, exploring who I am rather than someone else putting my identity in a box.

 

What Pride means to me

I’m privileged in many ways: I’m white, cisgender, and my family accept and support me. Pride Month is an opportunity for me to stand united with other people across the LGBTQ+ community, including those who may not be as fortunate.

There’s a lot of fracturing over LGBTQ+ issues at the moment, within the movement and in wider society. I think that the othering of trans people comes in part from the same reductive impulse to put people into boxes that I experienced at university, and it’s critical to push back against that.

Pride helps bring different groups together. We’re strongest when we’re united, asserting our freedom to explore and be ourselves.

 

We’re all still learning

My advice to anyone who wants to support the LQBTQ+ community at King’s? Be open to improving your knowledge and learning from mistakes.

I’ve spent the last six months reading up about trans experiences because I felt, strongly, that I didn’t know enough about trans people’s struggles. If you’re interested, Shon Faye’s The Transgender Issue is a great place to start.

None of us are completely free from prejudice, and none of us get it right all the time. But we can stay curious and hold up our hands if and when we get something wrong – it all adds up.

 

Get involved & make a difference this Pride Month
  • Join our LGBTQ+ staff network Proudly King’s or attend one of their events here.
  • Check out our Pride student news article which is full of useful links here.
  • Pride Month Step-Out challenge! Join Proudly King’s & King’s Sport in a 28, 06,69 step challenge in June and July to commemorate LGBTQ+ Pride Month and summer activities whilst keeping active. Sign up on the King’s Move app from 12th June here!

 

Want to Learn more about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London?

International Non-Binary People’s Day

July 14, 2022 /

International Non-Binary People’s Day is marked annually on the 14th July. This coincides with Non-Binary Awareness Week which this year runs from the 11th – 17th July 2022. The aim of both occasions is to celebrate Non-Binary people globally and raise awareness of the challenges members of the community face.

Non-binary flag

What is non-binary?

The LGBT Foundation have shared the following definition: Non-binary is used to describe people who feel their gender cannot be defined within the margins of gender binary. Instead, they understand their gender in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or woman. Some non-binary people may feel comfortable within trans communities and find this is a safe space to be with others who don’t identify as cis*, but this isn’t always the case.

*Cis – ‘The word “cis” comes from a Latin word meaning “the same side.” Cisgender is a term used to describe someone whose gender has not changed from the one they were given at birth’ (LGBT Foundation).

Is non-binary new?

The short answer is no!

Non-Binary and gender nonconforming identities have existed throughout history, you just need  to know where to look. Here are some handy Historic England and Britannica articles that explore this in more detail.

What is it like being non-binary in the UK?

Leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall explore what it means to be non-binary in the UK today in this article.

How can I be an ally to non-binary people?

Its important that we all take steps big and small to be inclusive and supportive of one another. The charity Stonewall have created a useful list of 10 things you can do to step up and be an ally of non-binary people, you can find it here.

What are we doing to support non-binary members of the KCL community?

We have developed a toolkit full useful guidance on  how to support trans & non-binary members of our university community, we have also produced a map of the gender neutral facilities that can be found across our campuses and we have a wider LGBTQ+ inclusion resource hub, you can find all of this and more here.

We are committed to protecting the dignity of members of our university community. We want a university free of bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct and hate crime. You can find advice, support and reporting procedures on our Dignity at King’s pages.

Pride Month Reflections: Proudly King’s

June 21, 2022 /

Paul Webb, Executive Chair of Proudly King’s offers his reflections on Pride month and looks at some of the work that has been happening at King’s College London. 

Proudly King's taking part in a pride parade with a decorated London bus.

Every Pride month, the problem of ‘Rainbow Washing’ rears its technicolour head. For those unfamiliar with the term, when companies appropriate the Pride flag during the month of June but do nothing of pragmatic value for their queer customers, that’s Rainbow Washing.

But it’s not just companies who offer nothing in return to the LGBTQ+ community who receive backlash. You might remember Marks and Spencer launching a Pride month sandwich in 2019 – the Lettuce, Guac, Bacon and Tomato. They declared the sandwich ‘packed with flavour’ and donated £10,000 to AKT (the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ homeless charity) but it still left a bad taste in people’s mouths.

So, what is it about Rainbow Washing that provokes angry community leaders and a month of social media outrage? Perhaps it’s about money. Yes, Marks and Spencer gave a healthy sum to AKT, but I’m sure they made a few quid for themselves by jazzing up a BLT and selling it for £4.45. But let’s be realistic. Companies are about profits, and the margins need to be worth it.

Maybe lack of creativity is to blame.

Since 2016, Skittles have ditched their signature rainbow colours for Pride Month, selling white sweets in white packaging because ‘only one rainbow matters [during] pride’.  Like M&S, they donate a portion of proceeds to deserving charities.

They might have made it impossible to find the purples and avoid the greens, but the public responded more favourably to a campaign promising to ‘give the rainbow’ rather than take it purely for commercial gain. Skittles went further than adding some arbitrary guacamole to a British lunchtime staple.

They build on their campaign year after year, and in 2021, they colourised black and white images of LGBTQ+ history for the first time, bringing attention to queer heroes without whom we wouldn’t be celebrating Pride in the first place. Surely that’s a worthy Pride campaign.

Then again, Mars Inc (owner of Skittles) must have profited, because the rainbow-less confection is back for the seventh year running, and it’s difficult to believe a multi-billion-pound company runs on altruism alone.

If I had to guess what makes a good Pride campaign, I’d say it’s about authenticity. I can’t define authenticity (which I appreciate isn’t very helpful) but I can tell you about some of the things Proudly King’s are doing to celebrate Pride Month 2022:

  • We’ve organised social and educational events. Both are important. We’re particularly excited about ‘Stories of Queer Poland’, a joint event with Warsaw University on Wednesday 22nd June at 5.30pm, online and in person.
  • We’re continuing our allyship campaign, encouraging colleagues to pledge to the LGBTQ+ community in order to receive a beautiful progress lanyard and wear with pride. So far, we have over 400 pledges. You’ll see some of them at the bottom of this blog.
  • We’re flying flags from Strand, Guy’s, Waterloo and Denmark Hill campuses. The buildings at Denmark Hill are illuminated with rainbow colours. There’s nothing wrong with visible celebration of Pride Month as long as that’s not the only thing you do.
  • Most importantly, we’re continuing our year-round work. We’re marching at London Trans+ Pride in July and attending UK Black Pride in August and Bi Pride in September. We’re continuously working with EDI and Senior Leaders to improve the LGBTQ+ experience at King’s. I’m sure you’re all aware (because we haven’t stopped banging on about it) that King’s was awarded a Stonewall Gold Award in February 2022 and Proudly King’s was a highly commended Staff Network. That’s a testament to our institution’s commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion.

There’s no rule book on ‘How To Do Pride Month’. To be honest, I’m not always sure what’s right and what’s wrong. But I do know that authenticity (however you define it) goes a long way.

This year, I emailed Estates and Facilities colleagues around King’s to ask about flying Pride flags. They responded almost immediately, with kindness and enthusiasm, to tell me they’d be up on the June 1st. They didn’t need reminding.

So yes, they’re just flags, but they symbolise King’s coming together to support and celebrate our LGBTQ+ colleagues.

That’s what Pride means to me.

Proudly King’s Allyship Campaign Pledges

Below are some pledges that members of the King’s community have shared with Proudly King’s as part of their allyship campaign.

As a white cis gay man, I’ve had a lot of things pretty easy, but even so I still think twice before holding my husband’s hand in public. I’m going to support + the LGBTQ community more visibly, promote equality and challenge prejudice in my work, volunteering and my personal life.
I will work towards incorporating more inclusive events and LGBTQ+ representation within the Refreshers and Welcome to King’s projects, expand our support and offer guidelines to services and faculty events.
I will engage in self-directed learning and active listening so that I can better understand the issues impacting the community.
I pledge to display the Proudly King’s banner as a symbol of my allyship for the LGBTQ+ community and to indicate my openness to having conversations with students and staff about issues they might find difficult to talk about. Being open about my allyship is an important step for me.
It starts at home. I champion this within my family hoping that changes in the way they speak and describe members of the LGBTQ+ community would lead to changes in interactions within their own social circles and so on.
I’m going to try and be more of a visible bi role model in my department and continue to support others in having challenging conversations. I also hope to introduce pronouns to more student activities for the projects I oversee.
I’m going to speak out against transphobic attitudes when raised by friends and family. I’m going to look at ways we can be more inclusive for young learners in our widening participation programmes.
I will stand up against negative, harmful and discriminatory comments and behaviour. I will continue to educate myself – and know this is my responsibility. I’ll model good behaviour but will own my mistakes and learn from them.
I will be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community by ensuring that all of our processes and policies within the Business School support equality, diversity and inclusion. I will try my best to encourage all of the diverse voices and views within the School to be heard, and to speak up when homophobic, transphobic or other intolerant views are expressed in my presence.
I pledge to proactively learn more about LGBTQ+, through books, films, tv shows, listening to podcasts, talking to those who identify as LGBTQ+ to better understand the existing barriers and challenges. I hope that this will not only allow me to be informed but will also enable me to learn how to become a better ally.

 

You can get involved by visiting the Proudly King’s website, and dont forget to follow them on Twitter & Instagram. 

 

Where you can seek support

For members of the King’s College London Community:

External support available to all: 

  • Galop is a charity that supports LGBTQ+ people who have experienced abuse.
  • Switchboard LGBT+ helpline offer free, confidential and impartial advice and support.
  • Stonewall are a leading LGBTQ+ charity.
  • Mermaids offer support to transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse young people and their families.
Want to Learn more about Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at King’s College London?

Love and Rage – but right now, mostly rage

July 6, 2021 /

Lauren Blackwood, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Project Officer at KCL reflects on this years UK Black Pride theme of ‘love and rage’. 

Content Warnings: black death, trans death, ableism, racism, and queerphobia.  

It is somewhat bittersweet that I have a platform to write about my rage. It is not often that black people get to do this and be heard, comforted, or accepted by our audience (Ashley 2014; American Psychological Association 2020). Even whilst writing this, I must perform a level of palatability on this platform – juggling respectability politics, tone policing, colonial ideals of professionalism, providing citations for my literal lived experiences so that I’m seen as credible, and my own authenticity – it’s peak. It’s also peak that we – my community, my ancestors, and I – even have to feel this rage and to have carried it over generations for over 400 years. We do not need anyone to validate our outrage, and we don’t need anyone to justify it. I would much rather just exist in a world where we’re loved, and feel love, and I’d get to just write about love. But honestly, that remains an out of reach utopia, even in big-big 2021.  

This year and a half has been a perfect opportunity for non-black people to hear black people, see black life, suffering, and rage. In addition to this, we’ve seen the love that black people continue to extend to one another for the sake of love, survival, and community. To be clear, it is not that these opportunities were not available to non-black people before; it just became a lot harder to avoid engaging with these walks of life. To make it even more shit, what they have witnessed is only a tiny snippet of our lived experiences. Even this opportunity given to non-black people was at the expense of the ongoing detriment of black peoples, and a result of our global suffering and consequent rage.  

We’ve had to watch non-black, and non-queer, people find out for the first time that black people disproportionately account for 14% of UK missing persons – but makeup only 3% of the population (White 2021), “Black and migrant trans women of colour [being] more vulnerable and frequently targeted” (Trans Respect 2020) and “People of colour mak[ing] up 79% of the 28 trans people murdered in the USA” (Trans Respect 2020) in 2020, that the school to prison pipeline exists and has historically targeted black children and youth in Britain (Graham 2016), that there’s a lack of public health services tailored to meet black people’s needs (Mind 2019; La Roche et al 2015). None of this is new news to those that it effects, but it’s so incredibly enraging that change so heavily relies on white people, and cishet people, catching up with what we already know and have been protesting about for generations. And just as a note, we’re hardly even close to having proportionate data on black queer lives to be centrally collected and easily accessible in the UK.  

But in the face-off all of this historical and contemporary violence, failure, and exclusion from our institutions, queer black people still manage to love and support one another; Lady Phil has given queer black people, Black Pride – a space to exist authentically and unapologetically; Melz Owusu has founded a first of it’s kind University, the Free Black University, alongside completing their PhD giving black people the freedom to regain control and access to our own education and epistemologies; Azekel Axelle founded the Black Trans Foundation supporting black trans and gender non-conforming people access healthcare through fundraising and establishing a network of Queer, Trans, and Intersex, People of Colour (QTIPOC) healthcare experts; Eshe Kiama Zuri initiated the Mutual Aid Fund supporting marginalised people, at the intersections of oppression, across the UK. Even when thinking about all of this love and community response I’m perpetually enraged that it even needs to be done. Imagine if we didn’t have to pour ourselves and all of our energy into meeting our basic needs as queer black people – imagine if that kind of love existed beyond our community. Bruh, rage!!! 

Donate to queer black people and organisations this month and every month, whether that be time, requested resources, or money; continuously invest your energy into self-educating about queer black lives, experiences, and history – I promise that you will not run out of valuable things to be learnt; listen to queer black people and act on what you hear – I’m tired of repeating the same requests for meeting basic needs and liberation.  

Happy Black Pride, I guess. Pop up if you want my PayPal (for professional and legal reasons this is a joke).  

American Psychological Association. (2020, July 2). Prospective teachers misperceive Black children as angry [Press release]. http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/07/racialized-anger-bias 

Ashley W. The angry black woman: the impact of pejorative stereotypes on psychotherapy with black women. Soc Work Public Health. 2014;29(1):27-34. doi: 10.1080/19371918.2011.619449. PMID: 24188294. 

Graham, K. (2016). The British School-to-Prison Pipeline. Blackness in Britain. 

Mind (2019) https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/legal-news/legal-newsletter-june-2019/discrimination-in-mental-health-services/ 

White (2021) Accessed at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/black-people-missing-b1827530.html 

La Roche, M. J., Fuentes, M. A., & Hinton, D. (2015). A cultural examination of the DSM-5: Research and clinical implications for cultural minorities. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 46(3), 183–189. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039278 

Trans Respect (2020) Accessed at: https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor-2020/ 

 

Baldwin, The Velvet Rage and Philadelphia: a Pride Month Trifecta 

June 22, 2020 /

EDI Director, Sarah Guerra, pens a blog about her reading of some important pieces of LGBTQ+ literature and cinema. 

My recent book group book was Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, and by coincidence, my next book was The Velvet Rage: Overcoming The Pain of Growing up Gay in a Straight Man’s World. By even further coincidence (as we, in lockdown, working our way through my 16 year old daughter, Kaela’s, must-watch film list), we watched Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a novel, a self-help book and a movie all about the intricacies of gay men’s lives, and the barriers and prejudice they face almost every day. It’s been quite the trifecta in provoking my thinking.  

James Baldwin is an author I have dabbled with and keep meaning to get serious about and read his entire back catalogue. For those who don’t know, Baldwin was an essayist, playwright, novelist and voice of the American civil rights movement. He was born in Harlem in 1924. He is acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s greatest writers. Baldwin broke new literary ground with the exploration of racial and social issues in his many works. He was especially known for his essays on the black experience in America, and is an author who might really help us all as we work more and more on tackling systemic racism (take a look at the EDI team’s anti-racism resources page here).  He also broke new ground in the novel, Giovanni’s Room which tells the story of an American living in Paris with a complex depiction of homosexuality, a then-taboo subject.

James Baldwin, author of Giovanni’s Room

Baldwin was open about his homosexuality and relationships with both men and women. However, he believed that the focus on rigid categories was just a way of limiting freedom and that human sexuality is more fluid and less binary than was often expressed in his lifetime.  

Giovanni’s Room has a wide variety of themes, and is not just a ‘gay book’ (whatever that is). What really struck me was how the narrative fitted unbelievably neatly with The Velvet Rage where the author, a psychotherapist, spends time exposing the nature of the intrinsic shame that he identified in himself and others as being encoded into gay men from an early age. 

Giovanni’s Room gives us an insight into David’s mind, his internal conflicts in relation to his family’s and society’s expectations, and his confusion about who he is attracted to and what is ‘ok’. It is particularly striking in its exploration of age, particularly the young gay men characters being spiteful and contemptuous about the older ones. The reader however can see that this is really their own fear of either becoming or not becoming like the older men. The novel is an anatomy of shame, of its roots and the myths that perpetuate it, of the damage it can do. There is something about the narrative that to me felt  both freeing and exposing of the horrifying self-loathing that some gay men feel. There’s a passage, just before David  meets Giovanni (his lover), where he observes a group of effeminate gay men. He describes them through a series of animal metaphors, first as parrots, then as peacocks occupying a barnyard. Finally, David says of a young man in drag that “his utter grotesqueness made me uneasy; perhaps in the same way that the sight of monkeys eating their own excrement turns some people’s stomachs. They might not mind so much if monkeys did not – so grotesquely – resemble human beings.” His seeing those around him as inhuman because of their different expression and his own self hatred was heartbreaking. 

Downs coined the phrase ‘The Velvet Rage’ to refer to a very specific anger he encountered in his gay patients – whether it was manifested in drug abuse, promiscuity or alcoholism – and whose roots, he feels, are found in childhood shame and parental rejection. “Velvet rage is the deep and abiding anger that results from growing up in an environment when I learn that who I am as a gay person is unacceptable, perhaps even unlovable,” he explains. “This anger pushes me at times to overcompensate and try to earn love and acceptance by being more, better, beautiful, sexier – in short, to become something I believe will make me more acceptable and loved.” 

The Velvet Rage, by Alan Downs

Downs outlines how feelings of worthlessness can be created in childhood quite unintentionally, and these lead gay adults to search for an unachievable perfection.  

Downs identifies many manifestations of “Velvet Rage” dealing with depression, self-harm and suicide, body dysmorphia and eating disorders – illnesses which are four times as likely in gay men as their straight counterparts.  The book went on my reading list as a recommendation from a colleague who described it as one of the first books he had read where he really felt seen. I am grateful for the recommendation. Recommendations like this are how we all become better allies.  

In Philadelphia, we see an Academy Award winning performance from Tom Hanks, telling the story of a high performing lawyer on a fast career track who suddenly finds himself fired. He takes his employer to court and proves the case that the sacked him unfairly and only because he had AIDS. The movie uncomfortably shows us the reality of the 70s and 80s and how open and accepted homophobia was. It gives us a live and far more modern demonstration of what Baldwin wrote about and illustrates the elements expressed by Downs.  

Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington

One of the things I particularly liked about The Velvet Rage was the very practical ‘skills for life’ section that helps any reader become more self-aware, better able to recognise how to set boundaries, how to recognise what their own needs and responsibilities are and ultimately better engage with the world and build relationships. The skills are based on the various theories that Downs puts forward of the barriers that are created for gay men which really gave me pause for thought, and I would encourage people to read both books to deepen their own insight.  

I am someone who sees myself as and wants to be an LGBTQ ally. It is all too easy to let those letters roll off the tongue. These books and the film made me really stop and think: how good a job have I really done over the years? I think the fact that I have lots of gay friends gave me a false comfort. How much have I really done to understand their experience? How it might present barriers each and every day to their success and inclusion in the world? No doubt not anywhere as much as I could do. So, allies, as we find ourselves in Pride month, get out there, get reading and watching, and join Proudly King’s who can help you on this journey and tell you what will really help our LGBTQ staff and students feel more included. I’ve particularly enjoyed the new Proudly Pod and am looking forward to Virtual Pride on Friday . 

 

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