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LGBTQ+ History Month, celebrated every February in the UK, remains a crucial and important observance in 2025. This month-long celebration is dedicated to recognizing the contributions and struggles of the LGBTQ+ community throughout history. It serves as a reminder of the progress made towards equality and to highlight how this can be progressed further.
Why LGBTQ+ History Month Matters
Educational Awareness: One of the primary goals of LGBTQ+ History Month is to educate people about the significant events and figures in LGBTQ+ history. Many of these contributions have been overlooked or omitted from traditional history curricula. By highlighting these stories, we ensure that the sacrifices and achievements of LGBTQ+ individuals are acknowledged and remembered.
Promoting Inclusivity: Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month fosters a more inclusive society. It encourages understanding and acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. This inclusivity is vital in creating safe and supportive environments for everyone, regardless of their identity.
Inspiring Future Generations: By showcasing the resilience and accomplishments of LGBTQ+ individuals, we inspire future generations to embrace their identities and strive for equality. Knowing that others have faced and overcome similar challenges can be incredibly empowering for young LGBTQ+ people.
Highlighting Ongoing Struggles: While significant progress has been made, the LGBTQ+ community still faces discrimination and inequality. LGBTQ+ History Month serves as a platform to address these issues and advocate for continued change. It reminds us that the fight for equality is far from over.
Ways to celebrate LGBT History Month in Buckinghamshire
Attend a historic film screening of “Pride 2014” a cinematic true story of collaboration between gay activists and striking miners in 1984. The screening includes an exclusive interview with ACP and one of the characters portrayed in the film.
https://linktr.ee/aylesbury.community.pride
Visit Aylesbury Waterside Theatre to watch MERCURY: The Ultimate Queen Tribute.
‘Freddie Mercury is deserving of recognition during LGBTQ history month, and indeed for the rest of eternity for the impact he made upon so many. I feel privileged to keep his legacy alive. He was and will always be an icon of the music industry and an ambassador for the LGBTQ community. Freddie’s family see us as an authentic Queen tribute which is an accolade we don’t take lightly.’ – Joseph Lee Jackson
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/mercury-the-ultimate-queen-tribute/aylesbury-waterside-theatre/
Visit Aylesbury Vale LGBT Social Group’s Twice-Monthly LGBTQ+ Coffee Posse on the 8th and 22nd February at the The Hop Pole Craft Beer & Grill.
https://aylesburyvalelgbt.co.uk/events
Attend the History Club and Workshop on LGBTQ+ Education at Qalliance Milton Keynes. An event which will explore the representation of LGBTQ+ people in schools from the 1980’s to the present day, with a focus on the impact of Clause 28 and the work of our community to reduce the marginalisation and discrimination of LGBTQ+ young people.
https://www.qalliance.org.uk/events-1/history-club-and-workshop-on-lgbtq-education
Visit the LGBT icon David Bowie’s statue in Aylesbury Market Square, where the legend unveiled Ziggy Stardust. Integrated speakers play one of Bowie’s songs every hour.
Guest contribution from Aylesbury Community Pride Committee
https://www.aylesbury-community-pride.co.uk/
Pride Events in Bucks 2024
Join us for Pride events in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes this summer!
Wycombe Pride – Saturday 17th August
1pm – 5pm – Pride stalls on Paul’s Row
1.45pm – Pride March starting in Frogmoor
2.30pm – After party in O’Neill’s
Find out more on the High Wycombe Pride Facebook page
Pride in the Park Aylesbury – Friday 23rd August, 5pm – 9.30pm
Pride in the Park is the first-of-its-kind, free to attend event in Aylesbury, joining the Parklife Weekend festivities! Local residents are invited to come and celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ community, with a range of activities, events and performances!
The event is made possible thanks to sponsorship from The Waterside Theatre and generous funds provided by the National Lottery Community Fund, Rothschild Foundation Grant and Fairhive Thriving Community Fund.
Find out more on the Aylesbury Community Pride website
Milton Keynes Pride Festival – Saturday 14th September
If you can’t make it to the Pride events in Wycombe and Aylesbury, Milton Keynes has a fantastic event planned in September! This year there will be a funfair, food village, rainbow market, kids’ space, and entertainment such as comedy, drag and cabaret stages.
Find out more on the Milton Keynes Pride website
Please note that all logos in this blog post belong to their respective Pride organisations.
International Transgender Day of Visibility
Today we’re celebrating International Transgender Day of Visibility, raising awareness and marking our appreciation of trans and non-binary people.
The 2021 UK Census’s had a question about gender identity. According to the responses, around 262,000 people identified as transgender. Of this figure, 48,000 identified as trans men, 48,000 identified as trans women, 30,000 identified as non-binary, and 18,000 wrote in a different gender identity. You can see the distribution in Buckinghamshire on a map on the Census website.
LGBT+ History Month 2024
LGBT+ History Month is celebrated every February, recognising and shining a light on our shared history.
The theme for this year’s LGBT+ History Month is Medicine, celebrating the contribution of LGBT+ people in the field of medicine and healthcare. This is a very apt theme, given the recent pandemic and the valuable work our doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have undertaken. According to a survey conducted in March 2020, 32,368 NHS staff declared themselves as LGBO (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Other).
We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the healthcare professionals for all their hard work, whether they have been working in or outside of Buckinghamshire.
Find out more about LGBT+ History Month
The Council’s Archives department are also looking for volunteers interested in uncovering LGBTQ+ history in Victorian Buckinghamshire. If you’re interested, get in touch with them at archives@buckinghamshire.gov.uk
Wishing everyone a Happy 2024!
We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Here’s a look at some key dates for your 2024 calendar.
- February – LGBT+ History Month
- 21st March – Omnisexual Awareness Day
- 31st March International Transgender Day of Visibility
- 6th April – International Asexuality Day
- 22nd – 28th April – Lesbian Visibility Week (with Lesbian Visibility Day on 26th April)
- 17th May – International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBT)
- 19th May – Agender Pride Day
- 24th May – Pansexual Visibility Day
- June – Pride Month
- 28th June – Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots
- 6th July – Omnisexual Visibility Day
- 13th – 19th July – Non-Binary Awareness Week (with Non-Binary People’s Day on 14th July)
- 16th July – International Drag Day
- 16th – 17th August – Wycombe Pride
- 14th September – Milton Keynes Pride
- 16th – 23rd September – Bisexual Awareness Week (with Bisexual Visibility Day on 23rd September)
- 8th October – International Lesbian Day
- 11th October – National Coming Out Day
- 16th October – International Pronouns Day
- 20th – 26th October – Asexual Awareness Week
- 26th October – Intersex Awareness Day
- November – Transgender Awareness Month
- 2nd November – Transgender Parent Day
- 8th November – Intersex Day of Remembrance
- 13th – 19th November – Transgender Awareness Week
- 20th November – Transgender Day of Remembrance
- 1st December – World AIDS Day
- 8th December – Pansexual Pride Day
- 10th December – Human Rights Day
1st December was World AIDS Day, with news that a new monument has been commissioned for Camden (London) near Middlesex Hospital and will be placed there by 2026. The monument will be for all those who have lost their lives due to HIV and AIDS-related illnesses. Middlesex Hospital was the first hospital with a dedicated AIDS ward, so it’s fitting that they’ve chosen a location close by.
Pansexual Pride Day is celebrated annually on the 8th December, raising awareness of what it means to be pansexual. Those who identify as pansexual have an attraction to all genders, whether male, female or non-binary.
Human Rights Day is celebrated on the 10th December, and this year marks 75 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which took place in 1948 after World War II. The day serves as a reminder that we are all equal and deserve to be treated as such, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or beliefs.
And finally, we would like to wish everyone a peaceful Christmas and look forward to the year ahead!
Transgender Awareness Month
November is Transgender Awareness Month, focussing on issues affecting the transgendered community. Transgender Awareness Week took place between 12-18th November, followed by the Transgender Day of Remembrance on the 20th November. This month, we’d like to take some time to focus on how we can all be better allies and help support and stand up for transgender people.
Some suggestions on how you can become a better ally:
- Realise that someone who is trans may not necessarily want to talk about who they used to be, as they may not have felt their authentic selves at the time. Instead it’s better to focus on who they are now. This means using their chosen name, and not the name they were given at birth, as well as using the correct pronouns.
- Don’t assume that everyone knows that someone is trans. A transgendered person may not necessarily want everyone to know, and should be allowed to choose if and when they want others to know. This could be as harmful as outing someone who is queer but hasn’t chosen to come out to everyone yet.
- Being trans doesn’t mean someone is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or straight. Transgender refers to gender identity, and not sexual orientation, and so it is better not to make assumptions.
- Being trans can mean different things to different people. Some people who identify as trans may be at a different points of their journey to transition into their authentic selves. Some may have only just started questioning and need time to understand who they are, while others may have chosen to undergo surgery to give them the appearance of the gender they identify with. Some transgendered people may be content to keep their outward appearance the same, but identify as a certain gender.
- Learn about the policies currently affecting the transgendered community. There have been so many changes over the past decade, and understanding the current issues can pave the way forward and change things for the better.
For more useful guidance, visit https://glaad.org/transgender/allies and https://transequality.org which have some great tips on how to be an ally.
National Coming Out Day
We hope you had a chance to enjoy the Pride festivities over the summer, but if you ask us, every day is worth celebrating and feeling proud!
Today is National Coming Out Day, a day when we show our support for those who want to come out to family, friends, neighbours, colleagues – or perhaps the world in general.
Coming out can be one of the most difficult things for anyone to do, and every coming out story is unique. If you’re thinking about coming out, there are a few things you may want to consider.
Come out in your own time
It’s important to come out when you feel ready to. There can be a lot of pressure to come out, but everyone’s circumstances are different. Coming out won’t necessarily be a single event in your life, but rather something you do time and time again with different people.
You may want to slowly build up to coming out, so that it isn’t a complete surprise. How about introducing LGBTQ+ topics into everyday conversation to gauge how receptive the person you’re planning to come out to might be? Making your views known could help test the waters and help you decide if now is the right time to come out to this person.
It doesn’t need to be a big thing
Not everyone wants to have a big coming out party, and that’s okay. You may decide that coming out to friends, family members, or colleagues one by one is the best way forward, or you may only want certain people you trust to know.
Reach out for support
Although coming out is part of your own journey, you don’t need to walk it alone. Support can come in many forms, whether that’s from friends and those you trust, to those who are openly LGBTQ+ allies. If you’re feeling nervous about coming out, ask others to accompany you so that you feel safe and supported. Sometimes merely having a supporter in the same room can be enough.
Learn from the experiences of others
It can help to read about or listen to other coming out stories to help you prepare for your own next step. Coming out is something most in the LGBTQ+ community will go through at some point or another, and this unites us. There are many who are more than willing to share their stories to help others who may be considering the same.
You may not get the response you expect or hope for
It goes without saying that perhaps not everyone you come out to will be completely on board with the news. We still live in a world where there is a lack of understanding and empathy for the LGBTQ+ community, and although the community is working towards equality and awareness, it’s important to remember that we’re all human and some may need more time than others to process the news.
Remember you are brave, whether you come out or not
It may not get said enough, but merely living in a world where LGBTQ+ members of the community are treated differently means you are brave, because you’re facing the challenge on a daily basis in your own way.
If you do decide to come out, we wish you the very best and hope you get the outcome you hope for. Remember that you are not alone – there’s a community of millions who are cheering you on!
Happy Pride Month!
We would like to wish everyone a Happy Pride Month! Pride Month is about celebrating our diversity as a community and how far we’ve come, and raising awareness of the struggles we’ve faced and are still facing. Although Pride Month is June, there are many Pride festivals which take place after. There are two Pride events scheduled for the Bucks area this summer.
High Wycombe Pride
Wycombe Pride takes place on the weekend of the 18-20th August 2023.
Friday 18th August:
- LGBTQ+ TedTalks in The Mad Squirrel. Come along and hear people from the LGBTQ+ community share their experiences from 7pm.
- Pride disco in The Sosh Club from 9pm
Saturday 19th August:
- Pride stalls from 1pm – 4pm (Paul’s Row)
- Pride Zumba dance demo just before 2pm
- Pride march starting in Frogmoor at 2pm, along Oxford Street, up Castle Street, down Corporation Street, along the High Street pavement, down the side of McDonald’s and into Pauls Row. Bring your flags, banners and bright colours!
- Pride celebrations/Cabaret/After-party in O’Neill’s from 2pm until late
- Pride Youth & Family Celebrations from 3pm in the Front Room Café (our designated youth and family venue)
Sunday 20th August:
- Pride movies in The Mad Squirrel from 12pm
- LGBTQ+ brunch with end of Pride Disney quiz and bingo in the Flint Cottage from 3pm till late.
Plus lots more!
Keep up to date with events on the High Wycombe Pride Facebook page
Milton Keynes Pride
Milton Keynes Pride takes place on Saturday 9th September 2023.
Visit the Milton Keynes Pride website and their Facebook page to find out more about their upcoming Pride events.
IDAHOBIT, Agender Pride and more this May
We have a few dates for your calendar leading up to Pride Month (June)!
This May includes the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on Wednesday 17th May, and the theme this year is Together always: united in diversity. It’s celebrated every year on the 17th May to commemorate the World Health Organisation’s decision to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder back in 1990. The aim is to raise awareness of ongoing discrimination towards the LGBTQIA+ community, and to promote unity. You can find out more about IDAHOBIT on the official website.
Agender Pride takes place on the 19th May, raising awareness of those who don’t identify themselves with a particular gender. This is another opportunity for us to support those who are agender and celebrate our diversity.
22nd May is Harvey Milk Day, and we will be delving more into this iconic figure in our next blog. Pansexual Awareness Day takes place on the 24th May and aims to celebrate pansexual people across the world as well as acknowledge the issues the pansexual community face.