SUMMER | COVER FEATURE
PRIDE IN ACTION
Dan O Gorman, strategic
partnerships director at Pride in
London talks to Access
trans women of colour. They
continue to be underrepresented
in marketing and brand
campaigns, so it was essential
that they were at the forefront
of everything we did this year
– including our Pride Festival,
campaign film, Pride’s Got
Talent competition and more.
What were the big
organisational and logistical
challenges this year?
What is your role and remit at
Pride in London and what are
the organisation’s goals?
My remit as strategic
partnerships director is to
oversee all of our relationships
with the brand partners who
support Pride in London each
year. These partnerships can
entail financial support or
support with particular services,
such as the legal counsel from
which we receive support and
resources from CMS. In either
case, my team and I work closely
with each partner to ensure a
mutually beneficial relationship
with Pride in London, and that
the relationship is credible,
authentic and truly delivers
for all parts of the LGBT+
community.
What sorts of creative
challenges has the organisation
faced living up to such a
momentous year for Pride?
With it being the 50th
anniversary of the Stonewall
Uprising, we really have to take
stock of how far we’ve come
while also marking the vital
contributions and sacrifices
made by marginalised members
of our community, such as
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One of the biggest logistical
challenges when it comes to
partnerships is making sure
that they are credible and
authentic in terms of their
support for Pride in London.
This means getting ongoing
assurance from partners
that they are continuing to
strive to be allies of the LGBT+
community 365 days a year,
while also advocating for our
message and mission.
Every year we formalise this
with our LGBT+ Ethical Policy
– a concrete set of standards
that all new and existing
partners must commit to,
covering employee rights and
engagement, staff training on
LGBT+ issues, and proactively
showing support for the
community – among other
requirements.
There is also a job to be done
in terms of educating the wider
community on how partners
support the organisation,
our volunteers and other
community/charitable groups.
Many brands donate hundreds
of hours of employee time,
substantial amounts of food and
water for our volunteers, provide
meeting/networking spaces,
and accommodation for groups
travelling in to London for
Parade day, among other things.
Without our partners, Pride in
London would simply not be the
same – particularly in its biggest
and most diverse year ever.
How has Pride changed over
the years in terms of format,
messaging etc?
Though Pride in London has
changed significantly in terms
of size and scale since the first
UK Gay Pride Rally in 1972, the
message remains the same: we
must keep fighting for equality
for all.
Even in the last month we’ve
been reminded that the great
strides in equality that some of
us enjoy today are not shared
by everyone in our community.
Couples are being attacked in
public, trans people continue to
face discrimination and abuse,
and LGBT+ people still face
injustice globally: it is clear that
the fight is not yet won. Our
#PrideJubilee theme this year is
about recognising that we have
much to learn from the queer
pioneers who came before us,
and that we must take collective
responsibility to understand our
history.
Tell us about the international
reach of Pride, and is there
much co-ordination?
Naturally on the 50th
anniversary of the Stonewall
Uprising there were
expectations that we would be
looking to New York, so one of
our big challenges was making
sure that the #PrideJubilee felt
relevant and specific to London
as one of the top LGBT+ cities
in the world. Just a week after
World Pride all eyes are on us
as the LGBT+ capital of Europe,
and we certainly saw significant
international reach through
our press coverage from this
weekend – with articles in
the USA, India, Australia and
beyond.