Brighton Pride
My first ever Brighton Pride. I have to say I was pretty stunned by the sheer scale of it all. It was very apparent that over time it has built and built to become a pretty gi-normous event as the LGBT+ community and those that support it, descend on this seaside town. Brighton has basically become a mecca for inclusion and for celebrating who you are. I would go as far to say that maybe even up to 50% of those present were gay friendly rather than gay (didn’t do a survey so obvs can’t prove) which is astounding in itself and just shows quite how much progress has been achieved in such a relatively short space of time. Only one full generation ago homosexuality was still illegal in this country and today it has been fully incorporated into the mainstream. For most of the younger generation its not and ever has been an issue.
This was demonstrated, in some ways, by the sheer amount of corporate floats present. Everyone from American Express to Sainsbury’s were present. You could obviously see it with cynical eyes and they say they were just jumping on the bandwagon for positive PR purposes. This may very well be the case but I think it really just shows the level of acceptance there has been in our society and that can only be a good thing. What got me the most was seeing the Police float with a special Pride Police car and all the officers marching along, with beaming smiles, decked out in rainbow & glitter. They were being cheered by the crowd and it welled us up to see them part of it. When you hear horror stories from around the world of victimisation and attack of those not considered ‘normal’ by their societies you realise how easy going it is here. Most people just don’t give a shit anymore. Its not perfect by any measure but its a fuck sight better than a lot of places and for that we should be thankful.
There are still so many countries where gay people are persecuted and abused, where they can still be imprisoned and where they do not feel safe to be themselves for fear of attack you have to commend this little island for taking a massive step towards progress. I will say though, that if everyone is quite yet on board, that also requires a level of acceptance and understanding. Change has been rapid and so many, especially from previous generations, who were conditioned to believe it was wrong and the fact that it might take them a while to get their heads around it should be tolerated. They shouldn’t necessarily be heavily reprimanded for struggling to deal with the change in outlook and opinion within their society. Its not their fault, its wot they were taught. And it is very evident, especially now, that cultural norms are constantly shifting from gen to gen and if you stick around long enough you can see that some ideals which seemed permanent are far from it and beliefs that appeared to be an integral and fixed part of society actually come and go.
Social conditioning is a very hard thing to unravel. We are all at the mercy of it and to be genuinely free of imposed thought we must dismiss what we were taught as impressionable children and reevaluate as adults what we feel is right or wrong and not to be swayed by the guidelines of our cultural or national identity. Most of us are willing to leave behind the prejudices of old and eventually that becomes the new norm and those who still have issues become confined to the periphery. The minority becomes the majority but in doing so, we must be kinder and more understanding to those who don’t think like us than they were. This is genuine progress.
To see the full gallery please click here: https://babycakesromero.com/photography/brighton-pride-18/
p.s hope y’all had a great summer..it’s good to be back!