‘We kept gettg people sayg: exce me, you don’t look gay’ – how Black people fought for a space at Pri | Pri | The Guardian

Contents:

• ‘WE KEPT GETTG PEOPLE SAYG: EXCE ME, YOU DON’T LOOK GAY’ – HOW BLACK PEOPLE FOUGHT FOR A SPACE AT PRI
• “BUT YOU DON’T LOOK GAY”—QUEER FASHN AND NIGHTLIFE
• TMP TELLS GAY SUPPORTER 'YOU DON'T LOOK GAY' AT MAR-A-LAGO FUNDRAISER
• YOU DONT LOOK GAY T-SHIRTS
• BUT YOU DON'T LOOK GAY...
• YOU DONT LOOK GAY CLOTHG

‘WE KEPT GETTG PEOPLE SAYG: EXCE ME, YOU DON’T LOOK GAY’ – HOW BLACK PEOPLE FOUGHT FOR A SPACE AT PRI

The events were also signifintly more policised, wh notable monstratns agast Sectn 28, ernment negligence addrsg the HIV/Aids crisis, and discrimatn agast LGBT+ what is often overlooked the history of Pri the UK is the signifint Black prence, and the spac Black LGBT+ people sought to rve out for themselv among the “mastream” gay and lbian muny. A curated space for Black LGBT+ people at Pri me about 1991, led by an surgency of Black gay men ristg the persistent hostily and margalisatn felt by their muny at Pri.

“BUT YOU DON’T LOOK GAY”—QUEER FASHN AND NIGHTLIFE

This is the story of how Black self-anisatn the early 90s paved the way for today’s UK Black Thompson and Lloyd Young at Pri Kenngton, Young In the late 80s, early 90s, there was an emergg work of Black gay men. One day 1991, Time Out magaze, there was a ltle article, like “Celebrate gayns at Kenngton Park” [a Pri event].

TMP TELLS GAY SUPPORTER 'YOU DON'T LOOK GAY' AT MAR-A-LAGO FUNDRAISER

It was Black mic, rather than the hi-NRG mic that you’d hear om the rt of Gay Pri, which felt very alienatg. And so to fally attend a Pri where there was mic culturally relevant to me, mic om the Black gay clubs I ed to go to, was a ltle piece of paradise. They said “exce me”, and we immediately knew what they were gog to e out wh bee we always experienced that: you ask any Black gay person, they’d all had this experience, of people sayg: ‘You don’t look gay.

It’s Gay Pri, you know?

I went along to Brockwell Park wh my iends; I remember walkg om my hoe Oval to Brockwell Park, and takg the back streets, bee we didn’t want to go through Brixton, bee we knew all the gays gog through Brixton probably would be subjected to some homophobia.

YOU DONT LOOK GAY T-SHIRTS

At prev Gay Pris I ed to hang out very close to the women’s tent bee that was the tent that played the bt mic.

BUT YOU DON'T LOOK GAY...

So that was a lastg memory: jt feelg really exced about the prospect of havg a safe space for Black lbians and gay men, pecially after several unsuccsful attempts to create that at prev Bailey I remember the women’s tent, which I thk was always the more tertg of the tents. Tony was at the stage where he’d bee one of the most visible and vol activists for Black gay men.

I thk if I’m beg hont, if they didn’t have that space, I would’ve stopped attendg Gay Pri. Havg said that, what I found tratg about Black or people of lour spac at Pri is that they’re seen as hip and ol and so they get undated wh whe gay men and lbians.

YOU DONT LOOK GAY CLOTHG

I was the chair of the Black Lbian and Gay Centre Project (BLGC) and we’d have a stall, and we’d put up flyers and leaflets, and there was a newsletter we ed to produce every month. BLGC also shared HIV-preventn rmatn and safer-sex leaflets to try and te Black gay men who were not gettg accs to that rmatn at that time; the rourc were received well. When I thk back to the first People of Colour tent at Gay Pri, and when I thk of the last UK Black Pri I went to, the People of Colour tent was fely a precursor to UK Black Pri.

So when I go to UK Black Pri now, jt blows my md how much the Black gay scene has grown 40 years. Cara Sullivan lv to the problematic relatnship between queerns and appearance, the expectatns and prejudic that e wh our ias of (homo)sexualy.