Warwick Pride celebrates LGBT History month

Warwick Pride will be celebrating LGBT History month this February, a series of events designed to broaden peoples’ awareness of the history of the LGBT community.

Various events include Love Music Hate Homophobia on February 6. Izzy John, the Students’ Union’s Welfare Officer, commented that this event “uses music and spoken word to raise awareness of anti-fascism”.

On Wednesday 2 February, there will be a screening of the film ‘The World Unseen’, directed by Shamin Serif. Academic talks will also be held by Trans Rights Campaigner, Angela Clayton, and Matthew Weait, who will talk about the laws surrounding HIV.

Warwick Pride will be hosting its annual Glitterball, which will be at The Holiday Inn in Kenilworth, and there will also be petition drives for local LGBT asylum seekers, who are openly gay and come from countries where homosexuality is a crime.

Warwick Pride have stated that they aim “to encourage the involvement of every single person on campus; you don’t have to define as LGBTUA+ to want to learn something new or get involved in the cause.”

John commented in a personal capacity that she hopes that students will “learn something about LGBT history”. She added: “LGBT students have always been around… and have constantly been put in dark places in history” and hopes that “students will look at history in a different way”.

John added that “Warwick Pride have started up their first ever YouTube campaign, which is called You Are Not Alone”. This campaign aims to “promote the message that any LGBT student who needs someone to talk to has somewhere to go”.

Clare O’Brien, the President of Warwick Pride, commented that: “It is a video campaign that aims to raise awareness of the LGBTUA+ Community and reach as many people as possible who feel isolated or alone because of their sexuality or gender, providing a message of hope.”