Pride is more than a performance

When I went to Manchester Pride after winning Big Brother in 2004, it felt like coming home. As I stepped out on stage the vast crowd chanted my name – it was like surfing on a big, beautiful wave of love, acceptance and joy.

Pride became part of everyone’s life, with big companies lining up to put on a bit of rainbow each June. Firms like Tesco or Cadbury weren’t trying to be edgy by changing their logo or sponsoring a float, they were setting up shop in the new mainstream. For a few brief years I thought we had arrived.

That sense of belonging didn’t last. Over the last decade the backlash has steadily grown, as rightwing commentators and their followers have gradually poisoned the conversation.

I remember the chill that came over me in 2017, when Donald Trump said that “transgender individuals” would not be allowed to serve in the US military “in any capacity”. The outrage in 2020 when Graham Linehan compared gender-affirming healthcare to Nazi “eugenics programmes” on Newsnight. The horror when a presenter on GB News repeated one of the most dangerous lies about the LGBTQ+ community live on air.

But after the Supreme Court’s transphobic ruling earlier this year, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s appalling interim guidance, that backlash has become all-out attack.

The toilet police are looking women up and down as they head for the toilet, and challenging them if they look too tall, too broad or too different. Women have come under pressure to throw other women out of teams and clubs where they’ve been welcome for years. And the hostility, the aggression on the streets has flared into violence. I have never been more scared that my rights as a trans woman could be taken away.

This year Pride isn’t just a celebration of LGBTQ+ people, it’s a vital part of the fightback against this hatred. So when companies say they want to support Pride, it’s more important than ever that they really mean it.

Some of the companies which have loudly declared their support for LGBTQ+ people – firms like Adobe, Burberry, KLM, Listerine, Nissan, Radisson, SoundCloud, Squarespace, Trainline, and Vistaprint – have also been funding hatred by advertising on GB News.

You can’t wave a rainbow flag and promote the poisonous lies put out by the rightwing media. You have to pick a side: hate or Pride.

Radisson has already taken action, pledging to take their ads off GB News. But all the others have stayed silent. 

What we need – what we deserve – is real solidarity. That means putting your money where your mouth is. It means pulling adverts from platforms that broadcast hate.

Pride was never meant to be a marketing strategy. It’s about defiance, survival, and hope. It’s about visibility, yes, but it’s also about justice. If you’re a company using a rainbow logo this month, ask yourself: are you with us when it really counts? Are you standing with us when we’re being dragged down?

Because we remember. We see who shows up. And we know the difference between a performance and the real thing.