We should be reflecting on the history of Pride this June, Doncaster drag queen says

Pride was started by a black transgender woman in 1969 at the Stonewall Riots but this fact is not often acknowledged according to Eboni Whyte, a drag queen who is part of the drag group Fluidity.

She said: “Pride is seen as a big party but people should remember that it’s also a protest.

“Yes our rights are better than they were decades ago but there are still so many issues to work on.

“Even within the LGBT community, we have issues with how we treat transgender people and people from minorities.”

Eboni says there are parallels between the Stonewall riots and the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA.

She said: “I’m seeing people in the LGBT community pulling down the rioters and looters in America at the moment but they seem to be forgetting how we got our rights.

“I don’t agree with the violence, it’s horrible, but I understand the anger and how it’s gotten to this point.”

Eboni says that race is a topic that has been brought up time and time again within the LGBTQIA+ community and that the conversation is moving in the right direction.

“LGBT representation usually means a white gay man and very little else,” she continued.

“A few years ago the Pride flag included brown and black stripes because minorities do feel looked over - but there was such controversy over it people came back with ‘where is the white strip?’”

Race is currently being discussed on a large scale due to the current riots occurring in America with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter trending worldwide.

She said: “It might make people uncomfortable to talk about race but now is the time for action.

“We need people to be anti-racist and to stand up for their friends and family who are minorities.”

Eboni encourages others to reflect on where Pride comes from and to educate themselves on the history through online research and by visiting the Stonewall charity website here.

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