By Holly Gordon

Do we need a Straight Pride?

NO.

Moving on.

With full force and a touch of magic, Pride celebrations have begun at work. Right in the centre of Soho, our gallery stands out all year round, with its bright pink exterior and the wonderfully curated window displays of graphic art and prop design from the Harry Potter franchise. However, for the month of June, our store front is a giant rainbow flag and we are inviting customers to write notes of support, love and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community in small ‘acceptance letters’ much like the ones 11 year old wizards get when they find they’re off to Hogwarts that coming September. These letters will be displayed around the gallery and in the window display for everyone to see whether or not they come in to check out the artwork.

Pride is important. It’s a time for celebration, love and acceptance, but it also a time where a community can feel safe. With the general belief that the UK has made a lot of progress over the years, you will sometimes hear people wonder why we still need Pride. Eh, of course we do. We still have a long way to go. There was a homophobic attack on two women just last week, I still hear people using homophobic slurs and since Brexit, homophobic attacks have risen drastically.

Brands still milk Pride every June, but forget about it for the other 11 months of the year. Consumers buy into anything that is Rainbow coloured, but don’t care if the CEO has a history of donating to anti-LGBTQ+ organisations. It makes me wonder if, as people going into advertising, if we should be trying to do better. During hand in on Friday, it was brought to our attention that none of our work included people of colour and I felt a bit shameful. I wonder how many of us consider people of the LGBTQ+ community when we are creating campaigns for brands. Not just brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Tinder or Netflix, but ones that any old person would use, like cereal, finance or bread.

Representation really matters. So does Pride, so look out for others, be kind and watch the link below. It’s a lovely sonnet, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda as he accepts the Tony Award for best musical. It was just after the Orlando shooting in 2016.