We’re back!
and not a moment too soon
It’s been a minute since BLKOUTUK has been host to an active blog. I took the difficult decision to focus my efforts on building a more sustainable foundation for our mission – something had to give. There have been many occasions over the past couple of years when I’ve been tempted to re-enter the fray directly and resisted. Now, on the verge of our relaunch, there comes a stark and urgent reminder of the need for Black queer men in the UK to organise, and come together to challenge injustice.
At the start of September, I read with dismay that Pride in London had suspended their CEO, Christopher Joell Deshields, one of the few Black queer men leading an ethnically generic LGBTQ organisation. Pride in London’s high profile can lead to a febrile political environment, and having worked alongside Chris in the past, I’m aware that he is a highly competent leader who knows the terrain well. I hoped that there would be a swift resolution to the challenges faced. Then, only days later, I found myself reading details from a supposedly internal investigation that was being discussed in open court with injunctions being served to separate CEO from organisation, and a Black queer man from his good reputation.
A contrast to sunny July, when over a million Londoners took to the city’s streets to express their Pride. Just 8 weeks later, the Black queer man who organised one of the largest LGBT events on the planet, is stood alone, isolated, and facing the court of public opinion as media reports of damaging allegations circulate the globe.
I had to take a closer look.
A series of phone calls from Black queer men who also felt that the stories reported in the press represented an all-too-familiar pattern of racial harassment in workplaces, galvanised the instinct that BLKOUT should speak out in solidarity.
Read our letter below. We invite you to join us.
We are stronger together
Below is an open letter to Pride in London, its regulators, and Black and LGBTQ communities. We invite you and organisations with a stake in our communities to become co-signatories by completing the form at the end of the letter.
My mother often repeats the dictum, ‘you have to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything’. Let’s stand in solidarity with Chris and each other in support of a Pride event for London, of which we can be proud.
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