Why we should be reminding ourselves of why celebrating Pride should be more than just being out of the closet? Adam Humphries reports.
As you may be aware that during June, we have been celebrating Pride and the achievements of the LGBT+ movement, but also why we need to remind ourselves why it is about more than just being out of the closet as well as out and proud.
This movement began decades ago in the 1960’s, before 1967, when being gay/bi was illegal and when there were no laws to protect us from persecution. Even trans people were receiving a raw deal.
As you can gather this had a profound effect on the mental health and well-being on many people who suffered as a result of oppressive rules which came about as a result of this such as Section 28. This made providing information to younger people on issues surrounding LGBT+ issues illegal, as a result many people suffered and some even took their own lives as a result.
Let me give you an early example which goes back before the 60’s, before the LGBT+ Organization, Stonewall, had begun:
Alan Turing, one of the celebrated geniuses of the 20th Century whose intelligence helped us win WW2 suffered as a result of persecution because of his homosexuality. He began a secret relationship with a man and because of the laws in the mid-20th Century and was convicted of Gross Indecency. What followed on had a huge effect on his mental health and well-being and as a result of that he committed suicide in 1954, two years after his conviction
For example, a survey conducted in 2014 found that just over 40% of LGBT+ youths sought help for mental health issues whereas 44% had even contemplated suicide and just over half had reported self-harm both in the then or the past.
Behind each of these numbers is an actual person who has suffered in one way or another due to emotional and social issues due to a lack of help, education and support.
Even though those were figures taken back in 2014 it does give an idea of the struggles many people within the LGBT+ community have faced and still face now.
In a recent study conducted by Stonewall earlier this year reported that 1 in 8 18–24-year-olds had attempted suicide and nearly half of trans people had contemplated suicide.
Just looking at the statistics, and most importantly the people behind them, is why celebrating Pride shouldn’t just be about celebrating our sexual orientation or gender identity. It should also be a reminder of the long battles that have affected us mentally and emotionally to get to where we are now, and for some, the cost it’s had on our well-being.
And for many that struggle still continues, even to this day.
